


When Words Fail

by Knightaaron



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Music, Romance, sort of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-01-24 00:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21328921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightaaron/pseuds/Knightaaron
Summary: Ruby has been in love with her best friend Weiss Schnee for a while, however, she lacks the confidence to do something about it. Everything is thrown upside down when a certain blue-haired boy steals the heiress's attention, Ruby needs to find a way to express her feelings or let the love of her life slip away.  Highschool AU.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 21
Kudos: 181





	1. Opertura

"Now, all students please present to the auditorium for the club's final presentation."

Most of the class grunted at the announcement of the high speakers, others cheered at the imminent pause of the classes. The sounds of chairs being dragged and people walking soon filled the air. Ruby Rose walked out of the room and through the hallways now filled with teenage students mindlessly making their way to the auditorium. There was laughter, some random screams and a lot of conversations happening at the same time.

The young girl happily walked alone through the hallways, occasionally skipping on her walk. Which was weird get a couple of stranged looks from other students. She was so happy, she didn’t even notice, because today was certainly a special day. Her beloved friends were going to present live the fruit of almost 5 months of preparations. And she couldn’t wait to see what one girl, in particular, had prepared.

As the hallway ended, Ruby crossed a pair of metallic doors that welcomed her with the smell of sweat, and feet. The auditorium of Beacon High School was like many others. It had the shape of an amphitheater with rows of blue plush seats arranged in rows in a half-circle shape surrounding a modest stage.

Inside the auditorium, Ruby stopped on one of the rows of seats and scoped for any familiar faces. She would rather have someone to joke with if this event went as bad as she expected to. As her eyes jumped from student to student, she detected a black bow, black sweatshirt and white skirt sitting down three rows in front of her. Ruby smiled as she recognized a friend and hurriedly made her way to her.

"Blake!" Ruby said once she was close enough.

The pale brunette turned around as she heard her name and found the bubbly girl walking towards her.

"Hello, Ruby” Blake answered with a small wave as the younger girl was next to her.

Ruby sat down on the seat next to her friend.

"I'm so glad I found you, this is chaos?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of people here. "

Both girls observed as the blobs of teenagers flooded the rows of seats, crowding very quickly the biggest room of the school. Ruby and Blake had been promptly surrounded by their fellow students a few seconds after their meeting.

"Yeah. Sometimes I forget there are so many people here."

"Too many people. "

Ruby turned to see her companion with her hands on her arm resting on the armrest and her hand on her forehead, her face in clear distress.

"You all right Blake?"

"Yeah… just, this crowd is kind of overwhelming"

"Oh."

It was very common for Blake to feel underwhelmed whenever a lot of people were involved. Crowds would usually turn the already pale girl into an almost transparent shade of white.

Suddenly Ruby opened her arms and gave Blake one of her trademarked bear hugs to the pale girl. Blake gave a squeak of the sudden motion of the redhead.

"Ruby?"

"There, there, Blake, everything will be fine. " Ruby said as she patted Blake on the back. Imitating what she had seen her sister do whenever Blake seemed to be in distress.

The pale brunette blushed under the embrace.

"Ruby... this is not necessary"

"But this is the best way to help someone feel better." Answered Ruby as she let go of the embrace. "Any better?"

Blake looked away.

"A little."

Ruby grinned at the answer, and quickly remember a question she had for her friend.

"Say have you seen Yang today? She left extra early and I haven't seen her since."

"She said she was going to be practicing the presentation with your girlfriend."

"Weiss is not my girlfriend!"

"Yet?"

Ruby pouted at the tease.

"Though I'm curious about what will they present this year."

"I bet it will be great."

"I know it will, though last year was great too, just…."

"A little boring?"

"Yeah."

Yang, the aforementioned Weiss, and two other boys were the members of the Beacon Music Club. As the name would give away the club´s main activities were related to practicing and performing musical pieces. However, due to the ensemble of instruments, during last year´s presentation, the Music Club presentation had focused more on classical music. While many people would agree that the performances of the 4 members were excellent, the whole array of songs and overall environment was a little boring for a high school audience. Both girls have assured their friends that the concert had been more than adequate. But it had been pretty obvious that the audience was not even remotely interested in classic interpretations. The members of the club seemed to have brushed the comments off, but deep inside it had really bothered them that so much practice didn´t give good results.

"Did Weiss tell you anything about what they were going to play today?"

"They wouldn't even let me in the practices."

"Huh, I thought it had only been me."

"Now I'm super curious. At first, I thought they weren't going to do anything, I'm glad they came through, Weiss didn’t want to show it, but she was pretty down when they found out about the last presentation." Ruby said legitimately excited and curious.

"Yang was a little down too, and that is really hard to do."

"Fortunately, she had you to cheer her up."

"And Weiss had you to cheer her" Blake answered with a smug grin.

"What, no… I mean, yes, as a friend and stuff."

Blake giggled amused at the suddenly embarrassed face of the girl next to her.

"You are in a teasing mood."

"I blame the crowd for that."

The small conversation went on for a couple of minutes, touching trivial topics. It was suddenly interrupted when the sound of a hand tapping a microphone sounded through the loudspeakers.

"Hello everyone!" The cheery voice of the Student Council Spokesman Nora Valkyrie buzzed in the skull of every single student in the room, ending every conversation.  
"Welcome to the Annual School Club Closure Event. Also known as ASCCE. A horrible name for sure. All of our clubs have worked really hard to show us their great presentation planned over the course of this year. Prepare for everything and anything, since this year we have some very special features. Now without further ado, please give a round of applause to our first club, the Astronomy Club."

The crowd of students applauded as the so-called "event" started. While Ruby did appreciate the courage it took to give a presentation in front of all the school, her expectations were never high on the content. It was pretty obvious which clubs had actually prepared for some time and which others had remembered a week before. Although they were some surprises here and there, the astronomy club gave tips on how to plan a stargazing date and where to look at (To which Ruby took some mental notes, no reason in particular), the math club presented a mathematician which with all and all was quite amazing, the dancing and art club teamed together and created an interpretative performance that although weird, it was oddly entertaining. Who would have said that pink tutu's and gas mask could look so good together? As the good and mediocre presentations went on and on by the 40 minutes mark, most of the clubs had already presented and the event was coming to an end there was only one club left to present.

Nora walked through the stage as the velvet curtains closed giving an end to the previous club´s performance.

"A round of applause for the Literature Club for their dramatic interpretation of A Study In Scarlet. Love the top hat by the way. Now, for the great finale, we have our beloved Music Club performing... The Phantom of the Opera."

Ruby's heart skipped a beat when she saw the silken curtains part away, giving the sight to a group of instruments already set with a microphone on the center of the stage. The four members of the Music Club walked from the backstage and took their assigned instruments, while the Schnee heiress walked to the main microphone.

Maybe it was the fact that she was about to perform live, or the lights of the stage were creating an optical illusion, but to Ruby, Weiss looked absolutely stunning. The girl radiated with confidence in every step she gave in the scenario while she was carrying her violin.  
  
Ruby had seen Weiss perform hundreds of time, however every single time it felt as exciting as their first time. The young girl believed Weiss had a special power to simply hypnotize her when she was playing her violin.

Once in front of the microphone, Weiss cleared her throat and spoke.

"Good evening student body, this year the Music Club is honored to present you the Phantom of the Opera based on the original piece by Andrew Lloyd Webber. As for instruments: Neptune Vasillas will be performing the electric guitar, Sun Wukong the drums and Yang Xia Long the keyboard. Oh, and I'm Weiss Schnee and I will be playing the violin.

As Weiss finished presenting the club, the members shared a glance. The heiress moved her violin and placed the chin rest against her neck and delicately moved the bow just millimeters away from the cord. After a deep breath, Weiss nodded too.

They were ready.

Sun proceeded to hit his drumsticks together three times in perfect rhythm.

Weiss violin started the song; her bow came across the violin cords so smoothly the melody immediately took shape. The song started in a slow and peaceful form of the iconic melody. Weiss´ face maintained cool and serious as she effortlessly played her instrument. She stood in her place maintaining her pose just moving her arms as the moved the bow across the violin string. The harmony maintained the peaceful paste for a few more seconds. Then the violin went silent.

Low-pitched accords from the electric guitar synchronized with drums filled the sudden silence as they started to raise the rhythm. When at it peeks the keyboard took over as a church organ playing the main theme of the song. Yang enthusiastically pressed the keys of the keyboard as the melody went up and down. For a brief moment, the electric guitar resounded with a sharp riff that went up and down a couple of times before Weiss´ violin started a new part of the song, the rest of the instruments followed in shape and in perfect synchronization.

The feeling of the song change completely, what started as a classical music performance suddenly had transformed into gothic rock opera, Weiss violin leading the melody as the other instruments blended perfectly creating a dark ambiance. The audience loved this new tune, people cheered and clapped, as the sudden change took place. The atmosphere completely changed giving place to a livelier one. Even Weiss´ movements stopped being so rigid and felt more and more fluid and in rhythm.

As the song went on, the violin and the electric guitar took turns in leading the melody. The difference between the leaders was obvious when Neptune took the lead the rhythm of the melody became faster and livelier. While with Weiss, the rhythm slowed down and the mood became a little more focused on the dark part of the song.

The battle between both instruments ceased with the violin taking control and started to slow down gave place to another change in rhythm. This time the melody became slower and delicate. The sound of drums and guitar disappeared, while the soft notes of the violin and the accords from the keyboard dominated the peaceful new mood.

Ruby's eyes kept fixated on Weiss, every other person in the room disappeared; even the sound of the instruments became silence. There was only Weiss playing her violin. Ruby´s eyes captured every single movement the girl made, from the elegant movements of her hand with the bow to the almost undetectable changes in her face. With her eyes fixed on the heiress, Ruby once more confirmed that she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen, and remembered why it had been so easy to fall in love with her.

The melody did a subtle change from peaceful into a more romantic mood, the notes from the violin and the keyboard started to slow down even more. The keyboard generated string cords blending in the background as the violin led the section of the song. Weiss maintained her cool and focused stance and much against her very nature Yang imitated her stance, moving in a very slow and peaceful manner as her fingers hit the notes on the keyboard.

The romantic and slow mood suddenly came to an end when the electric guitar and the battery barged into the song changing again the melody to a happier, more joyful one. The guitar elevated the melody with a solo leading the song while the drums resonated with the cymbals and the main drums. The violin and the keyboard joined up after a couple of seconds firing new and more vivid notes. Weiss´s slow and subtle movements gave way to faster and livelier ones. The young violinist moved her bow across the violin in rapid successions maintaining a seemingly uninterrupted sound.

The violin and guitar joined together as both instruments launched rapid notes. Without any warning, the violin took the center role again and slowly gave the song a more delicate mood in the process. The guitar and drums became silent as quick as they emerged, leaving the keyboard and violin as the main instruments again.

The fragile melody was short lived as, the violin was close to its final notes, the church organ blasted the main theme of the song accompanied by the rest of the instruments creating a new dark and rock filled mood. Weiss kept leading the melody returning to her classy and confident stance while the rest of the performers seemed like they were at a rock concert passionately playing their instruments.

However this time the violin kept the lead of the harmony while the guitar limited itself the blend in the background. As the main theme progressed the mood set by the violin went from cheerful to sad or creepy as the violinist saw fit. The violin notes started to get acute as the rhythm slowed down and maintained the high pitch notes in loops, suddenly Weiss maintained the same note for a few seconds. And with a definite movement of her bow, the song ended.

The auditorium exploded in cheers and applauses. The once silent masses started shouting and complementing, new energy filled the whole room. Ruby immediately stood up from her seat and started cheering and applauding with all the energy she could muster, which was a lot.

The barrage of applauses continued, the four members of the club walked to the front of the stage and gave a little bow to the audience. Clearly, a Weiss imposed action. After the bow, three members waved their hand and cheerfully saluted the applauding audience.

As the three teenagers enjoyed their moment of fame, Ruby's eyes were transfixed on the young violinist, who seemed to be scanning through the audience, as if she was looking for someone. Once silver eyes met with deep blue irises, the search ended. Following her hyperactive nature, Ruby threw her hands in the air and cheered even harder. But to the brunette´s surprise instead of facepalming or simply ignoring her, the white-haired girl had a warm smile on her face. An honest, happy and very uncharacteristic smile.  
Suddenly all the energy in the younger girl came to a stop, her body froze completely while her face turned to a very bright shade of red.

As the cheer died down, Weiss moved her attention from the blushing brunette to the general audience, momentarily waving at them.

Nora retook the stage microphone in hand.

"That was something else! Another round of applause for the music club and their amazing interpretation of the Phantom of the Opera. Wooooooo, yeah."

Clapping filled once again the room, extending the group's moments of fame. After a couple of seconds the noise subsided before ending, Nora continued speaking.

"Now, before closing another successful event, we have some words from our very own student council president, Ren Lie."

There was a less cheerful yet still sound filled round of applause as the president of the student council walked to the center of the stage and got handed a microphone from the vice president.

"Thank you, Nora. Firstly, I would like to thank all the members of all the clubs for putting this effort into this event. I know it is not easy balancing schoolwork with these activities and I really appreciate you all putting this much effort into this. I would also like to thank all of you for your enthusiasm and support for this event too. All of this club work hard on putting on this show to you."

"Yeaaaaah, a round of applause for everyone." Nora screamed and somehow managed to get picked up by the microphone.

Everyone in the audience applauded. Feeling a little tug in her skirt, Ruby realized she was still standing up, while everyone else had already taken their seat. Ruby was the only person standing up in the audience. She quickly sat down as Blake tried to keep herself from laughing.

"Why didn’t you tell me anything?"

"I mean, I eventually did."

"It took you too long."

Blake simply giggled at the comment of Ruby.

"…And well with all that said, I would like to close this event with the announcement that our generous teacher has given us an exceptional permission. And hereby, the rest of the classes are canceled for the day."

An explosion of cheering and shouting erupted in the audience as every single student jumped out of their seat and joined the celebration.

"Now get out before they change their mind! " Finished Nora. Immediately the masses of the student made their way to the exits of the auditorium. "No pushing!"

As the rest of the students fought their way out of the auditorium, Ruby and Blake went the opposite way, walking toward the backstage of the auditorium. Both girls wandered through the hallways as many club members were gathering their belongings after the presentation. They didn’t have to wonder for long, as the found the members of the music Club celebrating next to their instruments. The four members were excitedly talking to one another; even Weiss seemed more cheerful than usual as she talked.

Ruby ran ahead.

"Weeeeeeeeiiiiiiisssssss!" The redhead said as she glomped the violinist as tightly as she could.

The young white head girl almost lost her balance, but by a matter of practice and will power regained her stance quickly.

"Ruby!" She said surprised as a light blush appeared on her face.

"You were amazing! The way you played the violin and the rest of the music… and the melody…it was just amazing!"

"Get off me, you dolt!"

Just as Weiss struggled with Ruby, a pair of arms surrounded Yang´s waist as she received a peck in the cheek. A smile appeared on the blonde´s face.

"Hey, kitty." Yang answered as she turned around to meet face to face with Blake. "Did you enjoy the presentation?"

"I enjoyed it very much. You all did fantastic work."

Yang placed her hands on Blake´s waist.

"Did you fall in love with me again when you saw me on stage?" Yang asked teasingly to her girlfriend.

Black violently blush at the question, the blonde smiled at the sudden redness on the pale girl in front of her, it made her look incredibly cute. But knowing her girlfriend as she did, Blake hid her face in the nape of her girlfriend's neck. And whispering her answer.  
Yang let out a huge smile and hugged the girl tighter.

Meanwhile, Neptune and Sun watched as the four girls interacted so lovingly. So much sugar in the air, made both boys reconsider their love lives.

"Man, we really need to get ourselves a girlfriend."

Hearing the comment, Weiss stopped struggling with the brunette.

"Ruby is NOT my girlfriend! I mean she is my friend" Weiss almost screamed, with sudden embarrassment all over her tone.

"Best friend" Ruby corrected.

"And she just happens to be a girl, which might actually make sense to call it girlfriend."

A sudden silence fell in the room as Weiss´s scream resonated through the whole backstage. Suddenly Sun gave a sly grin.

"Why Princess, I was referring to Blake and Yang over there. Are you having other ideas with Rubes over here?"

The blush in the heiress extended through her face, and into the brunette´s face. Ruby let go of Weiss. The rest of the group laughed at the reaction of the two girls.

"Oh come on Sun, don’t tease them that much" The blonde said as she lightly hit the drummer on the arm.

"It's just a joke. Or is it?. Sun answered with a dramatic tone. "Who knows maybe Ice Queen over here has her sight on your sist..."

As the words were about to escaped Sun's mouth, Neptune saved him from his doom covering his mouth and stopping him from ending his sentence.

"What was that Sun?" Yang asked with an evil grin on her face.

"Nothing," Neptune answered immediately. "That you are the greatest and most lovable person in the world."

"Damn, right I am." Said Yang with a smile as she grabbed Weiss and Ruby with each arm.

"And you two need to lighten up. We are just messing with you two." Yang explained.

"O...K."

Was all the girls could muster.

"Now let's get out of here, school is out!" Yang screamed releasing the girls and taking her place next to Blake.

All of the music club members started to put their instruments in their cases, except for Sun. Ruby stood next to Weiss as she was putting her violin in her case.

"You really were amazing "

Ruby said barely above a whisper.

"Thank you…" Answered Weiss very low. "I'm glad you liked it. "

Ruby smiled at the comment as Weiss, who immediately took a sudden interest at observing the floor.

"Come on slowpokes or we are leaving you behind!" Yang called out.

"Maybe that's what they want." Commented Sun.

The comment earned Sun another not so friendly punch on the arm from Yang.

As Weiss gathered her case. She and Ruby started to walk with the others. With a wide smile on her face, Ruby walked next to Weiss as they made way to the others. As they were passing next to Neptune, who was still closing his guitar case. Ruby tried to steal another glance at the girl next to her. As she turned around to face Weiss, she found another thing. Weiss was stealing a glance herself. The heiress had her attention focused on the young guitarist next to them. With a quick turn, Ruby faced the boy only to find out that Neptune himself was returning the glance to Weiss. And just as both girls passed, Neptune gave Weiss a warm smile. To which the heiress answered with a quick smile and nod.

Panic took control of Ruby's mind.

_What… the hell… was that?_

In her experience, Neptune was one of the quietest and shiest boys she had ever met. It had taken her three whole weeks for Ruby to hear the boy communicate with something other than a nod or a shaking head. And it had taken a month of almost daily interactions for him to look at her in the eyes.

_And now he is exchanging smiles with Weiss?!_

_And nodding!?_

_What are they nodding at!?_

"Ruby, you dolt, are you coming?"

Ruby snapped back to reality as Weiss called her out. Apparently, she had stopped walking and was staring blankly. Her absent mind was earning her a weird look from everyone.

"Ah! Sorry."

"Seriously Ruby where do you have your head?" Weiss nagged.

"In some deep blue pools?" Answered Blake.

The heiress actually blushed at the comment. As Ruby walked to her friends she gave another inspecting sight to Neptune. The boy was standing next to Sun, as the blonde was commenting something to him. He had his usual semi-serious expression. Nothing out of the ordinary.

As the gang made their way through the empty auditorium, Ruby kept a vigilant eye on the blue haired boy and the heiress. He didn’t even share a sentence with Weiss in all the way to their lockers.

_Did I imagine that?_

Weiss considered Neptune a friend, Ruby knew that much. In any other case, she considered him a good guitarist. And their relationship was just friendly. Nothing suspicious about that.

The group of teenagers reached the final hallway before they had to dissolve to their respective lockers. Ruby glanced at Neptune again. The boy had his attention dispersed to the rest of the gang. But suddenly their eyes met. Ruby felt like a deer in headlights. Fortunately, the shy boy simply looked away.

"Neptune and I are heading to Crowbar Burgers, anyone coming?"

"Sorry, Blake and I have our own plans." Yang said pulling Blake by her waist closer to her.

"O…k. How about you two?"

Ruby was about to answer that it sounded good.

"I'm sorry, Ruby and I had planned for a little shopping after school" Weiss interjected.

Ruby had completely forgotten about said plans.

"You can come if you want." Ruby blurted not knowing why.

_Damn it. I ruined my alone time with Weiss._

"Nah, girls and shopping are a terrible combination. Well then, since we are girl free, we might have a chance to getting a getting some digits." Sun Said as he turned around.

"Ha! The only one with a true chance is Neptune." Yang said in the distance.

"I take that as a challenge. Let´s roll Neptune." Sun said as he made his way through the hallway. Neptune gave a small sight, and wave at everyone.

"See you later then." He said and then turned around.

As both boys made their way through the hallway, Ruby looked closely at Neptune one last time, as the boy started to talk with the blonde. It was clear Neptune was more talkative with Sun since they had been friends since childhood. As the duo turned and disappeared from sight, there were no last second glances or hidden glances. Nothing.

_Maybe it was nothing. Weiss and Neptune are just a little closer after the presentation. Like friendly._

"Ruby!"

The brunette snapped violently out her thoughts as Weiss called her out.

"Yeah?" She answered sheepishly.

"Did you listen to anything I said?"

Ruby didn't have to answer, her confused face said everything.

"Seriously, where do you have your head today? You are more distracted than usual. And that is saying a lot."

"Sorry."

"Are you all right?"

Ruby stared at Weiss. It was on rare occasions that Weiss ever made that question to her. Usually, there was something wrong with Ruby when the heiress asked that, and it always made the brunet happy. It showed that Weiss really cared about her.

"Yeah, just a little distracted. Nothing to worry about." Ruby answered with a smile.

Weiss analyzed her for a second.

"Let's go, I would prefer to leave school today. "

"Sure thing. Ruby answered."

Both girls made their way through the empty hallways to their respective lockers.

* * *

The couple made their way through the snowy streets of Vale. Little lights shined in every window store, as it was clear that the holidays were approaching. All around the streets merry jingles were accompanied with a bright combination of red. white and green. To wrap up the perfect holiday atmosphere, every sidewalk was covered with snow. The scenery was the closest thing to a postal card there is. Ruby and Weiss walked next to each other, each of them wearing a red and white coat respectively with black boots to combine. The girls made their way through the snowy sidewalk, as Ruby admired every single front shop´s decoration so much, bright lights almost emerged from their eyes.

"It's so pretty!" Ruby exclaimed as she literally jumped to the next shop front.

"Ruby calm down!" Weiss said. "We were here just last week!"

"Yeah, but not all the stores had their decorations on!" Ruby answered as she gazed in awe to another store´s decoration.

"Still, that is no excuse to be jumping around in the snow you are going to…"

As the words were about to leave the heiresses’ mouth, Ruby jumped again to another front window. However, during the landing, the redhead's boot slipped on the icy sidewalk.

"Oh, wow, wow, wow." The young girl tried to balance herself, by moving her arms in circular motions, but that proved worthless as she ultimately started falling on her back.

Ruby was ready to take the fall, ready to feel the pavement against the back of her head, but suddenly two firm arms hold hers and prevented her from falling. Realizing she wasn’t on the floor, she turned her head around, only to meet the stare of Weiss holding her almost effortlessly.

"… Fall." Weiss finished her phrase. " Seriously you are like a little child."

Noticing the sudden closeness between the two of them, Ruby´s face suddenly started to turn red. She quickly regained her balance and found herself back on her feet.

"I’m sorry. … I'm just… really excited."

"So I've noticed, but please, be careful, streets are icy and become dangerous…" she flicked Ruby´s forehead"… so don't be a dolt and walk carefully."

"Ow. " Ruby answered to the light hit, rubbing her forehead.

Weiss resumed her walking towards the stores. As she did, Ruby notices the way the white haired girl seems to effortlessly walk through the icy sidewalk maintaining her oh so delicate sway.  
  
The brunette walked as carefully and quickly as she could to catch up with her friend.

"Hey, Weiss…" Ruby started as she caught up with the heiress.

"Yes?" The older girl answered.

"How come you can walk so easily in snow, even without boots?" Ruby asked genuinely intrigued.

Weiss seemed confused by the question, she immediately turned her gaze to Ruby and analyzed the girl´s face. Clear intrigue was all over her face. The question was legitimate.

"What do you mean?" Weiss questioned back.

"Well,…When you walk you always have your super fancy posture, and well, you never lose it, not even in the snow. I struggle to walk without falling even without snow, but you never lose your posture." Ruby explained. Meeting Weiss' gaze, she notices the heiress' face was filled with surprise.

"Huh. I didn’t think you would… whatever. To answer your question; firstly I have been trained since I can remember, to maintain my posture in any kind of situation and in every kind of shoes. In business, posture is very important. And secondly, I´m from Atlas, it snows almost every single day, it is very basic for us to learn to maintain our posture in snow. The real challenge really is doing it while wearing heels.

"I can't imagine walking with heels in the snow. I walk like a gingerbread cookie with those." Ruby answered remembering the few times she was forced to wear heels during some of the school dances.  
  
"Yeah, but you look very pretty in them." Weiss blurted.

The comment caught Ruby by surprise and she felt her own cheeks furiously reddening.

"What?" Ruby blurted back as she turned to Weiss, whose cheeks were as red as her.

"What!" Weiss responded realizing what she had just said.

The heiress furiously avoided Ruby´s eyes, finding an incredible interest in the store far from a brunette. The atmosphere around the couple suddenly got incredibly awkward. Weiss´ mind raced as fast as it could to give an answer.

"We are here!" Weiss shouted as she realized they have arrived at the store she was looking for.

Ruby realized they were in front of an electronics store. In an instant, Weiss ran inside the store, leaving Ruby outside wondering for a few seconds, what had just happened.

_Did Weiss call me pretty?_

_Did she mean the heels?_

_No, she said I looked pretty!_

_What!_

Ruby finally processed the compliment her friend had given her. A compliment in her opinion was bordering with flirting, but a compliment nonetheless. It was clear that the comment had slipped through her mind, and while the brunette would like to interrogate further, judging by Weiss reaction, she wasn´t willing to add anything to her comment… at least not voluntarily. The young girl decided to let the compliment slip without further comments, at least for now.

Ruby walked into the electronics store, hoping her flustered cheeks had died down. A bell rang as soon as the girl entered the store. The store was mainly composed of rows of shelves filled with all kinds of electronic devices: computers, tablets, memory cards, and cameras. All the shelves were surrounded by a white wall with blue stripes. It gave the store a very clean feeling.

As Ruby walked through the hallways, she quickly found Weiss in the memory cards and external hard drives section. The white haired girl hadn’t noticed Ruby yet, mainly because her head was buried between her hands as she held a mysterious package in one hand and she mumbled something to herself.

Ruby didn´t want to make the heiress feel more embarrassed than she already felt. So witty comments and more teasing were out of the question. For now. Acting like nothing had happened, not the best yet not the worst possible solution.

She just had to approach Weiss in a very subtle way.  
  
"Weiss!" Ruby called from the other end of the hallway.

Weiss jumped in her place, startled she turned to the origin of the noise. Once she saw a particular brunette with a red coat walking towards her, all made sense in her head.

"Ruby! Don’t scream in the middle of the store, I´m right here."

"Hehehe, sorry." The brunette answered as she walked towards the heiress.

"Jeez, you scared me terribly. Seriously, did you needed to do that? I was barely 5 meters from you." Weiss commented harshly as Ruby stood next to her.

The young girl didn´t take too kindly the nagging her best friend gave her... so she changed a bit her teasing policy on the spot.

"But Weiss, you suddenly ran into the store I lost you. And all after you gave me such a nice compliment." Ruby said with a fake innocence.  
Weiss once again, found her cheeks blushing violently at her friend’s remark, her emotions quickly changing between terribly angry and embarrassment. She found a better answer by simply turning around.

"I… mean…it's... I... who... I don't...." Not a single coherent sentence left the heiress’s mouth.

Ruby could only smile smugly at the clear inhibition of her friend. Happy with the results, she walked past her.

"Oh, it is all right Weiss. The good thing is that I found you. So, did you get what you were looking for?"

Weiss didn’t answer right away, she slowly tries to figure out what had happened. Putting the pieces together, the Ice Queen realized that the brunet had just messed with her. And she wasn’t too happy about it.

Weiss caught up to Ruby and properly flicked her forehead in revenge for the teasing.

"Yes, you dolt."

"Ow!" Ruby said as she rubbed her now hurt forehead, again. "What were you looking for?"

Weiss showed the packaged she had in her hand. The package was an 8 GB USB memory, however, it had a unique shape. The device was shaped like a snowflake with a complicated pattern on the plastic plate and painted with white a blue

"Oh, my Dust Weiss! That looks amazing! And so you!" Ruby said excitedly as she walked towards the heiress and looked closer at the USB memory. "I thought you had like a million of this at your house."

"Don't exaggerate, there are probably around 20 around my house."

" What do you need so many memories for?"

"Well, my father has been handing me a lot of the company's administrative files for my training, and they are quite numerous."

"That must be tough."

"A bit, but I must accustom to it if I want to run the company."

"Still, you are only in high school, you have all college to worry about that."

"Maybe, but I prefer to prepare myself fittingly for such an endeavor."

"But if you take it easy, you can spend more time with all the gang and me." Ruby replied launching a hug at her friend.

Weiss could have given one of her trademarks cold replies, but instead, she gave a small smile.

"That doesn’t sound too bad" Weiss said barely above a whisper.

"What?" The brunette asked.

"Let go of me you moron I need to pay this" Weiss answered lightly pushing Ruby off her before proceeding to the register.

Ruby smiled, she had clearly heard what Weiss had said, and she´d be lying she said it didn’t warm her heart to see them once cold and distant Ice Queen open up not only to her but to a group of friends.

She raced after her friend and waited for her to finish her transaction. Once the money was handed and the USB memory sat safely in a plastic bag, both girls exit the store back into the snow-covered streets.

"I have a few more things I need. Is there anything you want to see?" Weiss replied.

"Hmmmmmmmm, I don’t think so." The brunette answered.  
  
"Well, in that case, would you like to grab a coffee before continuing? I think this climate would be perfect for it."

"If I can have hot chocolate instead of coffee sure. Hey, I´ll make my treat, a celebration for your great performance today."

"You don’t have to do that Ruby."

"I know, but I insist, today is special for your amazing performance" Ruby answered one of her characteristic warmer than the sun smiles.

Weiss was ready to reply to the brunette’s comment, but as she watched her smile, the possibility of any further discussion immediately disappeared; instead, the heiress could only help to smile back.

"Thank you." Weiss decided to answer.

"You are more than welcome."

Both girls walked together towards the coffee store a few meters away in silence. No words were needed.


	2. Crecendo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby finds out what is going on between Weiss and Neptune. She is not thrilled.

"… And so the Second Alliance combined their three armies, resources, and weapons. However, even with these three powerful kingdoms united, the Grim invaders still outnumbered them greatly. Still, these kingdoms were developed cultures, each of them had an area of expertise or strong point in either industry and technology, military experience or manufacturing and resources…."

Professor Oobeleck went on and on. Ruby sighed as she once again found herself dead bored during history class. The brunette changed her attention to her notebook which consisted mainly of nonsensical drawings than notes. She graciously moved her pencil trying to replicate a scythe-wearing warrior her history book briefly mentioned.

The words of Professor Oobeleck fell into the background as Ruby devoted her full attention to her sketch.

_Black leathered boots. Oh yeah, that looks so cool…. Did they had black leather boots back in the day… hmmm… will Oobeleck get mad at me again if I ask him that?_

_I mean it kind of does have to do with the subject, but not really unless they are talking about the clothing people used back then, and I don’t think…_

A light shove in her left shoulder pulled Ruby out of her mental discussion. The girl turned to her left, meeting her gaze met with blue irises. The white hair girl subtly indicated with a little head movement to put her attention to the front of the class.

Ruby immediately turned to face the front, where Professor Oobeleck continued writing with his back to them.

"I'm still waiting for the answer Miss Rose." The professor said.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn’t hear the question."

"Once again, Miss Rose, what kingdom brought the military experience and the hardened warriors?"

Ruby had no idea what age they were talking about.

"Uuuuuuuh, well… "The brunette started, stalling from any second she could get. Her eyes scanned her textbook hoping the answer would be highlighted and in giant letters. The search became desperate by the second since Oobeleck had the nasty habit of deducting points off the final grade for every wrong answer. And Ruby needed every single point she could get.

"Well, Miss Rose… do you know the answer or not?" The professor said without ever turning around or stopping writing on the board.

"I…" Ruby mumbled.

Then someone to her left cleared her throat, calling the brunette’s attention. Ruby turned immediately, Weiss without losing her gaze on the professor merely pointed down something in her textbook. Ruby couldn’t catch what she was referring to. As subtle as possible Weiss raised and turned slightly her textbook towards Ruby and once again the heiress pointed down to something in the textbook. This time Ruby saw what her friend was referring to, the picture of a red and yellow banner in one of the corners of the pages.

_That sigil._

The answer came easily.

"The Averian kingdom." Ruby finally answered.

"Very good." The professor commented as he turned around to face his students. "Now without Miss Schness' help."

The professor said as he gazed Weiss. The girl in question merely looked down at her textbook.

"During the signing of the Harren Treaty, to what tradition did the Atlas kingdom had to give up to be part of the Second Alliance?"

"Uuuu" Ruby panicked, she had no idea about the answer. She looked to Weiss, but she was no help anymore, looking down straight at her book.

Maybe that was a signal, the answer was in the book. Ruby´s eye pierced through the book page, as it was an I Spy book, hoping for the answer to magically pop out.

"Well, Miss Rose?" The professor asked with a little smirk on his face.

"Well, I think it was…" Ruby was considering just shouting anything.

What was it? Flailing? Maybe? It was the feudal times, it kind of makes sense. Or was it decapitation… damn, both are equally possible.

"Ummm, it was… Ummm"

_Choose one, say it, do it!_

"It was flai…"

A loud bell ring sounded through the classroom.

"Deus ex machina." The professor muttered. "Looks like someone just saved you miss Rose. Ok, class over. Quick homework read the rest of the chapter, and I mean, really read it, be ready for the worst next class"

Ruby sighed heavily in relief. She didn’t need another dent in her history grade. She started packing her books into her rickety backpack. The brunette turned to her friend.

"Thanks for the help, Weiss. I wasn't even in the right chapter of the book."

"You should pay attention in this class; Professor Oobeleck is famous for making infamous difficult finals." The heiress said as she stood up from her desk.

"That's true!" Professor Oobeleck said as he was abandoning the classroom.

"You can always help me study; I always do better when you help me." Ruby said as she was stood up from her seat and started making her way out of the classroom next to her friend.

"That is because under my teaching method you study instead of drawing on every page of your textbook"

"That and you have a lot of patience"

"I have learned to have patience with you"

Ruby smiled at the comment.

"Oh, you love me."

Ruby expected a harsh comeback from her friend. It didn’t come right away. At the sudden silence, the brunette looked at her friend as both of them crossed the door into the student filled hallways. Weiss looked like she was ready to rebuke Ruby´s statement she even opened her mouth. But no words came out.

Both girls walked a couple of steps in silence, Ruby staring quizzically at Weiss.

_Did I say something wrong? _

Ruby continued to stare at Weiss, who seemed lost in thought. A few steps more into the noisy hallways managed to pull out the heiress from her thought-induced coma, few more steps and she noticed Ruby staring at her.

"What?" The heiress asked.

"Nothing. You seem to out of it all of a sudden." Ruby answered.

"You… just caught me off guard."

"Ok… are you alright Weiss. Spacing out is not like you."

Ruby trailed off as the arrived at her locker.

Weiss looked at Ruby, and her mouth opened loaded with an answer. However, at the last second, the older girl seemed to change her mind.

"Yes, I just have a lot of things on my mind these days." The girl answered as she opened her locker.

"Hey, you know if you need someone to talk to or any sort of help, you can count on me"

"Thank you, Ruby. I assure you it is a situation under control, mostly"

"That's ok, it is just a reminder. So where do you want to eat lunch today? Rooftop, cafeteria, outside?" Ruby said as she opened her locker pulling out a brown paper box.

"Sorry, I won't be eating lunch today. I…I have a Biology team project due in a few hours, so I´m meeting my team in the library for the final touches" Weiss answered as pulled out a binder from her locker.

"Oh! No, yeah, That's ok. I mean, school is important and all. And well your project must be super important too, and I know grades are important to you. Well, not that they are not important to me, but to you, they are super important, and that is great, except when you don’t eat, or sleep for them, but you have learned…"

"Ruby. You are rambling." Weiss said sternly, her free hand on her hip.

"Sorry. Yeah, it's cool Weiss, good luck with your project." The younger girl offered a reassuring and honest smile.

"Thank you. Hopefully, I won't need it." The heiress said as she closed the iron door of her locker.

"I will see you in IT class" Weiss said before she started walking down the hallway.

"Yeah, sure, see you there" Ruby answered.

Once Weiss turned in a corner disappearing. The young girl sighed heavily as she banged her head on the locker door.

_Well, there goes lunchtime with Weiss. Damn it, I could have asked her if she wanted some help with the project. Nah, she has a team, I would just have been in the way. _

Ruby closed her locker door, shifted the password lock, and started walking towards the cafeteria.

_Maybe I can get another study session. _

The idea got her brunette to smile, as she pulled out her phone and started writing a text.

* * *

"…. And then the girl says, that she is not only with one, not two, but three other girls. We turn around to see, and sure enough, there were three other girls in the booth just eyeing us up like we were the last candy in the store"

"Yeah right". Yang´s laugh echoed through the whole rooftop.

"It happened, I swear, four chicks, hot as hell, I even got a phone number. Here let me…" Sun started to fumble through his pockets trying to find his phone.

"Oh come on, anyone can make a false profile on their phone" Yang answered.

"I'm serious, it really happened" Sun reported while struggling to take out his cellphone from his skinny jeans. "Damm this gorilla hands."

Yang looked down at Blake, who was currently cuddling with her head on the blonde´s lap.

"Can you believe this morons?"

Blake giggled at the question. Certainly, this wasn’t the first time Sun told about imaginary conquests. His stories kept getting more and more believable, there were points where they would even get some skeptical to start believing. Still, in the end, there would only be a flawless way to corroborate the truthfulness of the story. Which involved taking Neptune to the side and asking for the truth.

"Here see it for yourself." Sun managed to pull his cell phone from his pants, and walked towards the couple showing it off, as it was the last bottle of water in the desert. The blonde boy showed the couple a picture of him and Neptune on a restaurant booth surrounded by four girls: a blonde, a redhead, brunette and a purple-haired girl.

Yang choked on her drink. Blake furrowed her eyebrows still skeptic, Ruby move closer to the rest of the teenagers to contemplate the picture.

"See! I told you!" The blonde boy shouted as he pointed to the picture.

"Bullshit! Those girls could be random bystanders who you just simply took a picture with" The other blonde retorted.

Sun simply smiled, as he swiped with his phone screen, revealing more and more pictures of the gang of girls and boys enjoying a meal and hanging out in different places.

Yang was speechless, shocked, but mostly speechless as she saw the pictures. After almost a year of fake stories and girls here was evidence that Sun and Neptune had flirted with living human girls and succeeded. Even Blake was shocked at the new evidence.

"They're pretty" Ruby commented.

"Pretty? They are HOT, sis."

Blake looked up at her girlfriend, then proceeded to throw a cold and dagger filled stare, that would have made Weiss proud. One could almost feel the deadly combination of ice knives coming from the gold iris.

Yang felt the stare.

"But not as hot as my super amazing and incredibly hot girlfriend" Answered the blonde almost robotically.

Blake kept the stare for a few seconds and once again turned her attention to the picture on the boy's phone.

"Well, I'll be damned Sun, you guys finally made it" Blake said to the blonde boy.

"Hell yeah. We got pictures, phone numbers. Neptune even got a date"

"What? How? He would have to talk to do that." Yang said very surprise.

"What can I say, he certainly learned from the very best"

"Really? That´s why he has a date and you don’t" Yang asked.

"Hey, hey, hey, I’m working on that"

"I'm really curious how he managed to do that, he is usually so… shy."

"Well, you could ask him when classes are done."

"Why isn’t he here by the way? He feels like hot stuff because he got a date and doesn´t want to hang out with us anymore?

"Pffff, as if, he said he had to do something in the computer lab, I think he doesn’t have the Internet in his house"

"Well, we can go and ask him right away."

"Hell yeah we can"

"No, he is probably working on something. You can bother him when classes are over"

"Boo, you are no fun Blakey"

The raven head girl smiled at her girlfriend´s retort and with a sly smile on her face said.

"I can show you fun"

Blake grabbed the blonde girl´s face and pulled her into a kiss. Lasted far too long for the comfort of the two awkward observers. 

"Get a room you two!" Sun said turning her attention towards Ruby, who simply diverted her gaze to the floor.

"Hehehe, sorry" Blake said clearly not sorry, as she separated from Yang's lips.

"Well well, kitty, who knew you were in such a playful mood"

"Well, I…"

Ruby shut out the rest of the conversation

"Geez, those two… so Ruby, how are things going with Ice Queen?"

Ruby choked with her sandwich, which triggered a coughing fest in the brunette.

Sun patted Ruby in the back trying to help her not die from asphyxiation. The patting helped the piece of rouge sandwich move out of the wrong pipe. The coughing to subsided and Ruby breathed in, as she would get to live another day.

"Are you alright Red?"

"Yeah just… *cough* … don’t do that again"

"Are you okay Ruby?" Yang asked with legitimate concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I just choked on a sandwich, I just need my…"

Ruby grabbed her brown bag and looked through its content, which mostly consisted of bread crumbs. She looked and she looked, but her search was in vain, as the object she was looking for didn´t seem to be in the bag.

"Ah, dang it, I left my juice in the locker. Baaaaah, I got to go get it" Ruby said pouting.

The brunette stood and started to make her way to the door back into the building.

"But you never told me how are things going with the Ice Queen!" Sun yelled from his place.

"Nothing is going on!" Ruby said shouted as she opened and slammed shut the door accessing the school. The last thing she heard after that, was Sun´s laughter as she went down the stairs.

She easily made her way through the mostly empty hallways, populated only by a few students eating lunch. During her journey, Ruby´s thoughts started to diverge from her liquid and sugary drink.

_I mean we are close and that is good. But she probably wouldn’t like to be more than that, right? I don’t think she swings that way. _

_And even if she did, she would probably like someone like… sophisticated and smart… like Coco… well, maybe not Coco… but like Princess Tiera or something like that… are there still princesses?… like, legit princesses?... Oh, I think I heard something like that from Atlas and royalty… but that might have been in the past… was I listening in history class?_

The divergence of thoughts continued as Ruby got to her locker and retrieved her sacred orange juice. Just as she is closing and turning to leave, she accidentally bumps into an innocent passerby.

"Oh, I'm so sorry" Ruby says automatically, turning to check on her poor victim. A girl with long black hair that covered one of her eyes, pale skin, slim complexion and eyes with a mix of yellow and orange, just like a blazing fire. With one look, the young girl immediately recognized her. 

"Oh, Cinder, I´m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention where I was going" Ruby immediately apologized to her upper classmate.

"Oh, don't worry Ruby. Say, it has been a long time since I've seen you" Answered Cinder with a calm, soothing voice.

"Well, you know, these are hard times for everyone, you know tests and homework and all" Ruby answered a bit nervous. There had always been something she found unnerving in Cinder. From her always-calm yet seductive demeanor, to the way she always felt she was acting. Her appearance certainly helped, the girl looked and acted far older for her age. Something about this girl always seemed suspicious in Ruby's opinion.

"True, and I have seen you around with the Schnee girl."

"Weiss? Well, yeah we're friends, we spend time together here and there."

Suddenly Cinder brought her face just too close to Ruby's taste, barely an inch away from one another. The situation had become from calm to uncomfortable in just one move.

"Well, I see you with her all the time, I'm surprised to see you without her."

"Really? I mean we spend some time together, but not like all the time. There are times where each of us does their own thing. Like right now she is in the library working on something. "

Cinder immediately crooked her head to the side and gave Ruby a confused looked. Then, a small smile formed on her lips.

"That is odd because I just saw her with a guy with blue hair sneak into the auditorium."

The comment gained Ruby's full attention.

_A guy with blue hair? _

"Neptune?" Ruby instinctively asked, with shock in her voice.

"Well, I don’t know his name; I just saw he had blue hair, quite attractive." 

Ruby's mind started to collapse.

_Why would she be in the auditorium? With Neptune of all people._

Doubt and million questions invaded the young girl's mind: Had Weiss lied to her, or has Cinder just seen the couple wrong? Weiss wouldn’t lie to her, right? But what would Cinder win by lying to her? Weiss and Neptune didn’t have any classes together. So why?

Ruby realized she needed answers, and she needed them at that precise moment.

"Oh, yeah, maybe she just finished early or something. But yeah, I..I gotta go, I have to do a … a thing, yeah lunch I came back to it. It was nice seeing you again Cinder."

Ruby stumbled through her sentence as she started to walk down the hallway, waving at Cinder.

The older brunette simply kept her smile and wave goodbye.

"Nice seeing you too Red." She said before continuing her way down the hall.

Ruby raced through the hallways of the school as fast as she could. And considering her long training in track racing, it was quite fast. Enough to send any unattended pieces of paper flying through the air.

_Neptune and Weiss sneaking in the auditorium certainly sounded bad, but I´m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for it. I mean, maybe she finished early and Neptune asked her for help, or they forgot something from the presentation, yeah, maybe, sure. _

Even with the explanations her brain was coming with, Ruby didn’t feel at ease. This was an unusual behavior in Weiss. Maybe…

_I'm overreacting, she probably is just doing something normal or maybe she is just not her and Cinder mistook them. _

But even as she repeated herself that, her feet didn’t stop from running, and her objective didn’t change.

The brunette started to slow down and finally came to a full stop in front of two big metal doors with an inscription on top of them that read: Auditorium.

Ruby breathed heavily as she tried to recover from her sprint. Ideas and excuses were still buzzing in her mind as her breathing slowly normalized.

_Weiss would never do anything bad in school, and if she did, she would tell me, she wouldn’t lie to me. _

Ruby held to that last statement, in the one year she and Weiss had known each other, she quickly learned that the heiress was a straight cut, no-nonsense sort of person, and she over everything treasured loyalty and honesty.

Yet, she found herself pushing the metal doors of the auditorium, which gave in without much resistance.

The sound of a guitar-playing slow melody reminiscent of a lullaby filled the air of the mostly dark room. To Ruby´s surprise, the auditorium was covered in darkness for the most part. The only source of light came from the reflectors pointing right down at the main stage, where two figures were standing. On further inspection, the figures on the stage looked like a boy and a girl. A boy with blue hair holding a guitar and a girl with white hair holding a microphone.

Ruby stood frozen in her place for a second, taking the scene in.

** _Don't give me love,_ **

** _Don't give me faith_ **

** _Wisdom nor pride_ **

** _Give innocence instead_ **

The brunette immediately recognized the voice of the singer. The unforgettable sweet and beautiful voice of Weiss. While the Schnee heiress was a very talented and dedicated violinist, her musical abilities extended to singing too. Weiss herself had commented to Ruby that she had been training her voice since she could talk. And while the violin had taken the center point in her priority list, she never stopped practicing her singing. Although no one could attest to that since she didn´t perform publicly or privately to anyone. The only time Ruby had heard her sing was when the heiress started to unconsciously do it while they were studying.

And yet here they were.

** _Don't give me love,_ **

** _ I've had my share_ **

Neptune kept playing the slow melody as Weiss walked towards him while still singing.

_Oh, ok, they are just performing or practicing, yeah, practicing, in an empty auditorium. _

Ruby thought, yet skeptical, the scene in front of her look… odd. She couldn’t quite tell how but this didn’t feel like just a normal singing practice.

** _Beauty nor rest,_ **

** _Give me truth instead_ **

Weiss continued to sing as the melody picked up the rhythm, she stopped walking once she was directly in front of Neptune. She extended him the microphone, waiting for him to continue the song. Against everything, the brunette knew of the shy boy. Neptune sang.

** _Don't give me love,_ **

** _Don't give me faith_ **

The white haired girl scooted closer to the guitarist and joined in as they sang along.

** _Wisdom nor pride,_ **

** _Give innocence instead_ **

The melody became more and more mellow and Weiss stood close to Neptune. Ruby couldn’t divert her eyes from the scene. Both of them looked so comfortable with each other, a weird trait in both of them. Neptune barely interacted with anyone other than Sun and Weiss was never fond of physical contact, at least with her. But now, it was impossible to ignore the chemistry between the two of them.

** _Don't give me love,_ **

** _I've had my share_ **

The guitar didn’t slow down as the two teenagers kept happily singing, Ruby´s brain was running a million miles per second. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It had taken her around almost a year to get the heiress not to scream every time she hugged her. And here she was with Neptune who she knew less than a year ago, and yet clearly close to him as she had never seen.

** _Beauty nor rest,_ **

** _give me the truth instead_ **

The facts were in front of her.

Weiss happy tone and weird behavior.

The clear chemistry between them.

The body closeness

Both of them lying where they were going to be.

The stare and smile they shared after the Club's presentation.

The words of Cinder suddenly came back as if she was right there.

_"Tall, blue hair. Quite attractive"_

_"He is surprisingly charming"_

_"I just have a lot on my mind right now"_

Everything fitted perfectly.

** _Don't give me love,_ **

** _Don't give me faith_ **

Ruby felts like her stomach filling with knots. She tried to find something to say, but she found another knot in her throat as her brain revealed the horrid conclusion.

_How could I had been so blind? Dust knows how long this been going on. _

** _Wisdom nor pride,_ **

** _Give innocence instead_ **

And just like that, with her brain crashing down into a conclusion and the song coming to an end, the spell broke and Ruby looked away from the singing couple. Emotions started rushing down her body like a flowing river. Too many for her to process. But on the weird sea of emotions she found herself in, one stood amongst the rest.

Anger.

Red, constricting and violent anger flowed through her body like blood. She could feel every happy memory she had with Weiss be clouded by a red mist. No longer could she remember that perfect smile without her hand forming into a fist.

But before the brunette could do anything, a small voice in the back of her head calling her. Get out of here.

Still, on her better judgment, Ruby turned around and let go of the heavy door as she exited the room.

** _Don't give me love, I've had my share _ **

** _Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead_ **

The last accords and lines of the song sounded before the door shut behind her.

Ruby started to walk back to the rooftop, but with every step, she felt more and more lost in the once familiar hallways.

Everything felt confusing and unreal as if she was walking through a dream-like maze. Even moments later, what the girl had just witnessed had felt like a past event that happened to someone else.

But it was real, it had happened. Weiss and Neptune. Her mind was trying to process the whole event at the same time as it was trying to keep her emotions checked while dealing with the rising anger invading her.

She managed to reach the stairs leading to the rooftop. The brunette looked up to see the path of stairs ending on the door to the outside, and yet she couldn’t find the will to give the first step. Or any steps at all. Taking a closer look, the first step looked like a very comfortable place to sit down. She instantly tested that theory.

Ruby sat down in the first step of the stairs, lost in thought.

_Why do I feel so angry about this? I mean, Weiss… if Weiss likes Neptune, that is fine … it's not like she liked me or we were dating..._

Ruby let out a grunt, she was giving herself a headache trying to understand everything at the same time. Not to mention and she was feeling angrier by the second.

Nothing was going right this day.

_Ok. I´m not mad at Weiss. Am I?... No… But I´m angry… and I don’t know. I mean what is going on? Weiss likes Neptune, that is fine I think, she is a grown, strong woman… she, she is allowed to like quiet, introverted and charming boys. If Weiss wants to date him that is fine. OH!... Right? Righ! _

Ruby sighed, her mind was going insane, she had taken a second and breathed in. Clear ideas and let her brain ventilate.

_Weiss is my friend, if she wants to date Neptune, you should support it. Ok, if I get that, But… why am I still so mad? I mean… why? I feel betrayed as someone lied…. Like someone lied to me, yes! I am angry because she lied to me. Am I? Yeah, sure, I am mad because of the lies, that I can deal with. _

With her mind coming at ease, the brunette waited for a soothing feeling, something that would take the anger away. She waited for a second, and another. It never came, the anger was still inside of her now mixing with a new wave of depression.

_Ok, Weiss lied to me. She… she doesn´t trust me. But … why I mean, I´ve kept her secrets I have told her mine and … that means nothing? All this time, and… just nothing but distrust. I could have kept that if she told me, but no right? Why would she do that? Pff, I´m only and her closest friend. Which apparently means NOTHING TO HER!_

Without thinking about it, Ruby clenched both her fists in complete anger. A massive splash and the wet sensation on her pants pulled the brunette out of her trance, as she realized she had squished her juice box in her rage quit. A shiny orange stain expanded trough the tile floor. Ruby could only stare at it as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself again. But once she opened her eyes, she was even angrier than when she arrived, now she was kind of sad too, and to top it all up, she had no juice and her leggings were stained.

"Dang it." The brunette finally said angrily throwing the empty box of juice to the floor.

* * *

The rest of the school day went by in a blur. Professor's and whole classes were reduced to background muffled noise; Ruby´s eyes were fixed on her notebook and random lines she thought were doodles.

Fortunately for the young girl, she just had one more class with Weiss and they didn’t even sit close to each other. To avoid any possibility of contact with the heiress, the brunette came up with an elegant solution. Getting 10 minutes late to class.

That way, she would avoid the slightest chance of bumping into Weiss on the way to class or while waiting for the professor to arrive.

The solution worked, and Ruby managed to get the rest of the school day without talking or dealing with Weiss.

How healthy.

The brunette opened her locker door and threw useless books in it. For once the loud hallways were somehow relaxing, the soothing chaos was great for numbing her mind right now. Ruby picked up the books and coat from her locker, as she preceded to quickly close and shut its door. She looked both ways, making sure she was still alone.

_Left _

_Right_

_Ok, no sign of snow, let´s move. _

Ruby´s locker was located in the awkward position halfway to any of the two exits. So to complete her “stealth” mission, the huntress would have to move through half of the school building, with hallways filled with teenagers. A deadly mission, if she was not careful. However, time was on her side.

The redhead had managed to use her speed to get out of her classroom and into her locker pull all the books she probably needed f, in record time. Now she just needed to sprint to the exit. She got her backpack safely attached to her then she prepared. Time slowed down the hordes of young adults barely moved, as she observed them Ruby planned her route, squeezing her way in between groups of teenagers and threading the needle between lockers and students.

With her route planned in her head, Ruby was ready for execution. She sent every bit of energy she had to her legs, and the sprinting begun. The small girl quickly reached her maximum speed in a matter of seconds.

Traversing the hallways became an easy task, as many of the students were still in their locker or on their way to them. This made it easier to keep her speed as she could move through the corridors with a minimal amount of dodging.

Maintaining her speed the silver eyed girl advanced so fast, her fellow students were reduced to nothing more than a blurry silhouette. The loud conversations and laughing mixed making a track of incomprehensible gibberish.

After a minute, Ruby reached the main entrance of the school, with one swift motion she pushed the door and braced herself for the outside world. As the door opened, a swift cold air hit her, as if entering another dimension, leaving the building and everything that happened on it behind.

Ruby looked around, this time looking for her sister and her friends. They were nowhere to be found, which was expected, most of the students were still in the building sorting out their lockers. This meant the girl was alone, taking a big cold breath, she could feel the icy wind invading her lungs, giving a sensation of freshness. Ruby exhaled and started walking towards her home.

As the brunette started her lonely walk, she pulled out her headphones and fought a couple of steps to untangle them, and finally connected them to her cellphone. Once she put them, the boring outside world was blocked, substituted by a more exciting set of drums, two guitars, a bass, and one very angry voice singing.

** _I can't stand it I know you planned it_ **

** _But I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate_ **

** _I can't stand rocking when I'm in here_ **

And with those magic words, the walk through the winter wonderland didn’t feel so alone.

** _Because your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear_ **

** _So while you sit back and wonder why_ **

** _I got this fucking thorn in my side_ **

As Ruby kept walking, something in her plan wasn’t coming along as she thought it would. Even if she had managed to avoid Weiss, and leave the school behind, her mind couldn’t help but to go back to lunch. The image of the heiress and Neptune so close, and intimate was repeating and repeating…

_No. Stop. Don’t think of that. Just focus on the music, the moment. _

** _Oh my God, it's a mirage_ **

** _I'm tellin' Y'all it's a sabotage_ **

_No drama, no thinking about school, just enjoy the music and lets' deal with this at home. So right now just music and cold walk home. Nothing more and nothing less. _

** _So listen up 'cause you can't say nothing_ **

** _You'll shut me down with a push of your button?_ **

** _But I'm out and I'm gone_ **

And so, the little red riding hood relaxed over the not at all calming voice of the singer as she took one deep breath and exhaled calmly.

** ** ** _I'll tell you now I keep it on and on_ **

** _'Cause what you see you might not get_ **

** _And we can bet so don't you get souped yet _ **

Ruby remembered why she liked this song. The combination of instruments and intense voice made the song feel angry, yet not a type of anger to scream out or a violent type. Certainly, it wasn’t a happy feeling, but it was a type of controlled anger, a wild type of energy that at this moment in time, Ruby could certainly identify.

** _You're scheming on a thing that's a mirage_ **

** _I'm trying to tell you now it's sabotage_ **

** _Why; our backs are now against the wall_ **

The guitar started rifting while the drums kept the beat. Ruby couldn’t help but headbang just a little. As she crossed another block the brunette made her way into a well-known park. Surrounded by nature, with good music on her ears and far away from, a slight smile appeared on her face.

** _Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage_ **

** _Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage_ **

** _Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage_ **

** _Listen all of y'all it's a sabotage_ **

"Ruby!"

She halted.

_What? Did they call my name on the song? Is this some kind of Easter egg?_

"Ruby!"

_Oh, there it is again! Has anyone else heard this? Was this always here?_

The sudden discovery was cut short when she felt a hand on her shoulder turning her around.

"Gahh!" Ruby screamed as she shoved the hand of the stranger in a clumsy way to defend herself. In reality, she just managed to tangle her arm with the headphone´s cable on shoving them to out of her ears and into the ground. As she realized her attacker was no one else than a pale girl with white hair, that looked like Weiss. Oh, wait…

"Dust sake Weiss you scared me"

"Well you weren´t answering when I was calling you"

"So you decided to attack me from behind."

"I barely touched you. And I thought you had heard me, you stopped when I called you"

"That was you?!... I thought…"

Ruby stopped talking as she realized how dumb the conclusion she had come up was.

"Nevermind"

"You should stop listening to music so loud on the street. You are already prone to accidents as you are." The heiress commented kneeling to pick up the fallen headphones.

" I don’t have accidents that often" Weiss got up, headphones in hand and she extended her hand to Ruby with a serious look.

"Really?" She said implying doubt.

Ruby pouted at the seriousness of the question, as she took her headphones back. Deep inside of her, she knew her friend was right.

"Well, one or two only."

The heiress gave one small smile at her victory. As Ruby witnessed the rare sign of happiness from the white haired girl, she was reminded once again of her beauty.

_I love when she smiles. _

"That is because you are always all over the place, you dolt. Which reminds me, why did you leave without me? I had to chase you down all the way here"

And just like that, the moment of peace, tranquility, and friendship shattered as the memories of the day was brought back and hit Ruby like a ton of bricks. Weiss was the last person she wanted to be with right now. Her demeanor changed, the smile on her face disappeared without leaving any sing or trail. She didn’t want Weiss in front of her looking at her with inquisitive blue eyes. She made a whole plan, that seemed to have work… Just to fall into pieces.

_Okay, play it cool, just find a way to get away from her as fast as possible. _

"Well, I just… I thought… that… Ummm…I just thought you… had… band practice! Yes! I mean, yeah"

_Smooth_.

Weiss stared at the mumbling girl confused that quickly turned into annoyance, but just as easily it became closed eyes and sight.

"Ruby you absolute dolt. Club activities are already over if you don’t remember we presented literally yesterday in front of all the school"

_Damn it, she is right._

"Oh, oh… yeah right. I guess I just forgot" Ruby responded focusing as she turned around ready to continue her lonely walk

"Seriously, I am sure you would even lose your head if you hadn’t attached to your neck."

"Yeah, sorry" Ruby answered barely above a whisper. Still eager to continue her walk.

Weiss stood quietly for a second, as she just looked at the girl in front of her. She looked at her and Ruby could feel the gaze. She knew this; it was the sort of look the heiress gave when she was analyzing something. In this case someone.

"Are you okay? You seem… off, again" Weiss finally asked.

"I´m just a bit tired." Ruby lied.

"You should probably cut down your time with video games, you could get more sleep."

"Yeah, I´ll consider it… anyway…" Ruby was preparing her excuse to jump out of the conversation just to be interrupted.

"If you are not too tired I was wondering if you would like to shop with me again, I have some things that I want to buy on 3th street; I was wondering if you would like to accompany me? The heiress blurted out.

On any other day of any year, the answer to that question would have been an immediate, yes. But today was a bad day, and just being with Weiss, was just not something Ruby wanted to do.

However.

Weiss simply sprigged the question out of nowhere, without a proper setup or anything of the sort. That was quite unlike her very usual refined manners. Besides she looked… nervous?

_Why does she look nervous? I´m the one who doesn’t want to be with her. Did something happened with Neptune… Oh, no is she going to tell me about Neptune..._

The rushed and sudden conclusion launched Ruby to a state of paranoia. Even though she had witnessed both Neptune and Weiss, she didn’t want to hear more about it. That would make it worse, somehow it would make it real. No, she didn’t want to know anything anymore regarding the issue.

"Yeah, no, sorry Weiss, I´m… tired… yes… as I said before… in another sentence. So, yeah I was just heading home. Anyway, I hope you find what you were looking for. See you tomorrow." Ruby said inconspicuous.

Ruby started walking at a leisure pace, hoping it would give the heiress the signal to each take their path.

"That´s ok we can go some other time" Weiss answered following Ruby.

The brunette reluctantly accepted her new walking partner, they weren´t too far from the point they would have to split up and each girl would have to go their separate ways.

_Just a few more blocks, then I can avoid her all I want _

"So… why were you so late to IT class?" Weiss asked.

Ruby sighed in her mind as the hope of walking in complete silence the rest of the way disappeared like smoke.

-“I… I just got out of math class a little later. The professor was giving me grief about my homework.”

"Are you having problems again with math? I thought the tutoring had helped"

_Just… please stop talking. _

“It helped in the last topic, but now we are seeing, something with areas bellow graphics and integrals. I just don’t get it.”

“Integrals? They are easy to understand. Maybe I could tutor you again.”

Again, any other days Ruby would have just been so happy to receive and an invitation to spend time alone with the Schnee heiress. But at that moment, Weiss was equivalent to a plague carrying leper, she just wanted her as far away as possible.

“Don’t worry, I´ll be fine”. Ruby answered dryly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I´ll just need to pay attention or something.”

“Well, just remember that I can help you if you need any help. I am very strong suited in math.”

“I´ll keep it in mind." Ruby said a bit harsher than she intended.

“Seriously Ruby are you ok?”

Weiss said a bit worried, but in Ruby´s mind, she translated as the heiress was annoyed.

“Yes, I am, why?

“You seem, I don´t know, down and angry."

The dam keeping Ruby´s emotions at bay was very close to collapsing, ver, very close. The conversation had to end very soon if they were to avoid an incident. The younger student doubled her walking speed.

“I´m fine, just… tired.”

“Are you sure?”

_Don't pretend you care._

Weiss notices the change in pace yet matched it.

“Yes, I'm fine. I have to…"

Ruby's creativity for excuses was at an all time low, she was ready to go on a full sprint like she should have when Weiss had caught up to her. But before she had the chance, a cold hand gently laid on her shoulder, making her turn around to face piercing blue eyes filled with worry.

“Ruby, I don’t know what happened, but you know you can talk to me, you can trust me.”

The final crack. The wall´s of the damn slowly but surely started break one wall at a time, the sea of emotions rolled down through her body

Ruby talked in the worst possible way, on angry instinct.

“What?” It may be a question but the tone was filled with rage.

The question surprised the heiress and for a second she was at a loss for words.

“What do you mean with what? I meant that you can trust me, Ruby."

Once again the word hit the young girl's psyche, but now there were no walls to restrain her.

“Can I Weiss, can I trust you?”

Worry eyes became a frown at the tone and implications of the question.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

_You lie, Weiss, to me, and who knows to whom else. _

"I don't think I can trust you Weiss" Ruby laid the answer plain and simple.

Weiss was shocked, insulted.

"Where is this coming from? And how dare you, I have been nothing but a loyal friend to you"

“So what are you telling me, is that through all this time we have known each other, you have never lied to me?”

“Wha? What does that have to do…”

“So you admit it, you have."

“No, Ruby! I haven't lie to you. But I fail to see what does this has to do with this issue.”

The brunette wasn't thinking with her head anymore, raging emotions had taken control of her mouth, and it was running without letting her brain a say in the matter.

“Really? So where were you at recess?”

And the last nail in Weiss´coffin was laid, when the white- haired change her expression from indignant to hesitant. As if a child who stole the cookies and was now being interrogated on their whereabouts.

“I… I was in the library, working on a project… with my group.”

All teachers in the school would probably agree that Weiss Schnee was a prodigy student, both smart and dedicated to her studies. However, the ability to tell lies… had room for improvement, a lot of room in fact. And never had it been so apparent than at this moment.

The pauses between words, the stiff tone and the lack of eye contact. You didn´t have to be a detective to figure this one out. Ruby sure wasn´t and she did.

In the mix of emotions, she was feeling, while anger was more prevalent after the words left Weiss´ lips, she could feel a new emotion coming to afloat.

Disappointment.

The confirmation that her closest friend was indeed able to lie to her, or at least attempt to.

“And after all this time, I thought we were best friends, hell, friends.”

“But, Ruby we are.

“No! Friends don't lie to each other, no they play with each other´s feelings or give false hope to make them think they could have a chance tog…

Ruby stopped in her tracks, realizing that her façade was falling more than intended and she was about to tell something so far from the right moment like a clown telling jokes in a funeral.

“I need to go, I don’t want to talk anymore.”

The brunette tried to regain her composure and turned, intending to continue her way home.

“Ruby, what in dust name is…”

“You and Neptune look good together, by the way”

Weiss didn't answer at the comment, still a few steps away from her, Ruby heard a gasp in her voice.

“And the song was very good too.”

“Ruby… I… “

Ruby turned around again, facing her once friend, she seemed frozen in time with desperation flooding through her face.

“Don’t, I don’t want to hear it, Weiss, I´m done with your lies, I´m done with the tricks. I´m going home.”

“Ruby I swear I can…”

“No! Weiss, stop, leave me alone! I don’t want to hear more lies. Just… just leave me alone!”

Without any logical thought left, Ruby began to sprint as fast as she could.

She faintly heard her name being called but she was just too worried about getting away from her.

Weiss couldn’t keep up with her, the was simply no way she would be able to catch up to her like this. Ruby´s speed was rivaled by very few people, any sort of race was almost a guaranteed win for the brunette.

The sidewalk was slippery with remains of snow and ice, but let it be luck or mere willpower, Ruby managed to continue running without slipping. Running, just running no carrying for the things behind her.

* * *

** _If I could do it again, would it be alright?_ **

** _Or am I living a sing just by being by your side?_ **

** _Wake up, fuck love._ **

** _Just limbering off your make-up_ **

*Click*

** ** ** _Undo these chains, my friend._ **

** _I´ll show you the rage I´ve hidden._ **

** _Perish the Sacrament._ **

** _Swallow, but nothing´s forgiven._ **

“No.”

*Click*

** _Jolene_ **

** _Jolene_ **

** _Jolene_ **

** _Jolene_ **

** _I´m begging you please don’t take my man. _ **

*Click*

** _I´m not strong enough to stay away_ **

** _Can´t run from you _ **

** _I just run back to you _ **

** _Like a moth into… _ **

Ruby ripped her headphones from her ear and threw them to the other side of her bed, before falling again into her pillow grunting.

_My music has betrayed me too… just great. _

She closed her eyes, trying to gain some control over herself. It had been a long day and she was just beaten. It hadn’t been her intention to snap at Weiss, nor had it been to reveal that much information about her. Her emotions just took the better of her.

Ruby moved her hand through the mess of blankets her bed had been reduced to, patting in the dark until she found her cell phone. When she finally found it, she brought it closer to her face, pressing a button and lighting the gadget up.

No messages nor calls.

_Of course, do you think she was going to text you?_

The door to her room suddenly opened letting bright yellow light through the darkness. Ruby turn on her side hissing at the new glow invading her new vampire lair. 

“Ruby, I'm back, are you ready for… geez, what happened here?”

Yang said as she notices the complete darkness in the otherwise cheerful room.

“Are you okay?” Yang asked worriedly.

“I'm fine” Ruby answered like a grunt trying her best not to sniffle, she didn’t need more interventions today.

“Are you sure” Yang walked to the edge of the bed and kneeled there.

“Come on sis. You can trust me.”

Yang laid a hand on the side of Ruby's arm. Even with clothing on, she could feel the warmth of the hand. It felt comforting, soothing, all the things the young girl needed right now. Ruby let her guard down and let herself be engulfed by the comforting warmth of her sister. She turned her body around, facing the blonde.

The older sibling took the signal and sat down on the bed pulling her little sister closer.

"I had a bad day." Ruby started.

"What happened?"

"I... I got into a fight with Weiss."

"Oh!"

"It got messy"

"As in punches and slaps?"

"No! We just screamed at each other. Well... more like I screamed at her"

"What did she do to earn that?"

"She... she lied to me"

"Ok, about what?"

"Where she was during recess"

The silence that followed Ruby´s answer was surprisingly revealing. Now that she had said it out loud, the young girl realized what she just said sounded, very dumb. She hoped her sister didn´t think it was as nonsensical as it sounded.

"So you screamed at your best friend because she wasn't in the library like she said?" Yang said very slowly and trying to understand the sentence as she said it.

Well, there went that.

"Yes, no, if you say it out loud like that it sounds, dumb. I mean, there is more to it."

"Like...." The blonde sibling started the sentence.

Ruby grunted loudly, as she was considering if she should tell her sister what she had witnessed at the auditorium. It occurred to her that Weiss and Neptune were clearly trying to keep their relationship secret from everyone, or at least their friends. And given the heiress´reaction earlier that day, they didn´t expect to be found out, just yet. Revealing their secret could be bad for them.

On the other hand, this situation was rather new to Ruby and she had no idea how to deal with it. Usually, she would talk with Weiss about her problem but now...

Maybe talking about it will help me, Yang has probably gone through something like this. Probably. And she can keep a secret.

"I can tell you, but you have to promise me, not to tell anyone about it."

Yang had frowned at the request.

"Why?"

"Because it involves something no one knows yet"

Yang looked at Ruby quizzically, interclosing her eyes.

"Fine"

"I mean it Yang, not a word to anyone."

"I get it"

"Well, it happened when I went to get my juice from my locker..."

Ruby proceeded to retell the whole incident, from her encounter with Cinder, the event she witnessed at the auditorium and her fight with Weiss.

“Ice Queen and Neptune?” Ruby nodded

“I mean, are you sure?”

“I'm pretty sure. You know how Weiss is not very fond of people, but she seemed very happy to be alone with Neptune.”

“Still, it seems… odd. Neptune of all people, how could he keep something like that from Sun, from all of us. “

“I'm sure they have their reasons.”

“Sure they but still... Neptune even has a date with some random girl he hit on"

"Yeah but Sun said that, and you know how he is with his stories"

"True, still... something doesn't feel right in that story, we should ask him or Ice Queen"

"No!" Ruby shouted. "I told you no one has to know about this, I only know of it because I stumble upon it. But no one must know."

"But asking them would save us all this shushing around. Plain and simple"

Ruby expected something like this from her sister, it was part of her character. If Yang had a problem with someone, she would just step up to them and confront them. No subtly, no speaking behind their backs.

"They are not ready for telling us, we cannot force this on them"

"It would save us a lot of time" Yang answered raising an eyebrow trying to make her answer more appealing.

"Yang, you promised"

"Fine, I'll keep the secret. But I think we should talk to them about it"

"Duly noted" Ruby said.

"Now, your situation with Ice Queen, let me see if I get this right. You find the two of them singing at the auditorium and you get mad at Weiss?"

Once again, listening to her actions out loud, they did sound like an overreaction.

“I mean, yeah, she lied to me.”

“She did, but, you seem to understand well why she did it”

“I... I think I do.”

"But you're still mad at her"

"Well yeah! She... lied and..."

Ruby fell silent as she started to rationalize what she did, and most importantly what she felt. Without her emotions ruling over her, she started to understand what was happening.

"Rubes, I think I can understand why you could be annoyed by Weiss lying to you, but I don't think you are mad because of that"

Her sister was right, Ruby was understanding just that. Her anger towards Weiss wasn´t because she lied, on many occasions the brunette herself had told little lies to the heiress. No, the emotions she felt right now where something that originated far from her head. 

"I... I..." No clear sentence left Ruby´s mouth. Her brain was trying to work overtime, making a clear analysis of what was truly wrong with her. The conclusion slowly dawning on her, as she revived the moment when Weiss and Neptune stood together while singing, the undeniable joy in the white-haired girl. The feeling of dread that accompanied that smile, the horrible realization that someone else than Ruby could make Weiss happy.

Tears emerged from the deep silver pools and ran free through her face.

"Ruby?"

"I knew it was unrealistic, I knew it was never going to happen, but deep down inside of me... I... I thought... really hope she could like me back. How dumb of me" Now the rear ran wild breaking the young girl´s voice.

Her sniffles were cut short when her sister moved her hands around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. Ruby snug into the embrace as she felt the tension that had been mounting throughout her body. Warm and comfort flowed in the young girl´s body assuring her it was all going to be fine in the end.

"It's alright Rubes, it's alright." Yang said with a soothing voice while slowly patted her sister's hair.

The siblings remained in that position for a couple of minutes, Ruby spilling out the last of her tears, while Yang kept comforting her.

Once the tears stopped rolling, the sniffling subsided too. Ruby slowly separated from the embrace. She felt lightheaded like she had suddenly stood up rapidly and her body was still catching up to with her actions. Although her mind felt unclouded, rational thinking was faster and more effective. The reflexion for her past actions caught up with her.

"I did something terrible to Weiss. I screamed at her when she didn´t do anything wrong"

"If you feel bad about it, you can always apologize to her"

"I will. I'm such a fool, getting mad at her because she didn´t like me. It was silly to believe she would even consider dating me"

“Hey, don't sell yourself short. Ice Queen would be lucky to have you as her girlfriend"

Ruby answered with a small laugh.

“Thank you Yang”

“No problem little sis"

The sisters shared another hug.

Ruby turned and look at herself in her full-length mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy while her hair could be compared to the victims of electroshock.

“Ugh, I need to clean up before dinner” Ruby said before standing up from her bed.

“You sure you are going to be ok?” Yang asked as she too stood up.

“Yeah, talking things through really helped”

“I'm glad”

* * *

Ruby walked to her bathroom. Once the restroom door closed Yang pulled out her cell phone. Without losing a second went through her contacts and finding the contact of Neptune Vasillas.

_Ring ring ring_

_Ring ring ring_

"The number you are currently trying to call is in use right now. Please try calling later."

The whole thing sounded fishy to the blonde. Weiss and Neptune as a couple were not impossible under the right circumstances. However, the way Ruby described it sounded suspicious. Especially recalling Sun´s story from today, their successful flirtation and pick up of the ladies the day before.

While Sun's moral compass was occasionally blurry. In the years Yang had known Neptune, the boy had proven to be more than honest and for the most part ethical personal regarding relationships. While double timing wasn’t a completely impossible idea for the shy boy, Yang had enough respect for the boy to doubt the charge.

Something didn’t add up.

Yang tried once again calling the blue haired boy.

_Ring ring ring_

_Ring ring ring_

"The number you are currently trying to call is in use right now."

The older sibling hanged up while she enclosed her eyes. This was getting more suspicious by the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it! I would really appreciate it if you left a comment telling me what did you like or what you didn´t like about the chapter. I really want to improve my writing, so any criticism is very welcomed!  
If anyone is interested in the song in this chapter here they are:
> 
> Neptune and Weiss´song: The Crow, The Owl And The Dove- Nightwish  
Ruby´s angry song: Sabotage - The Beastie Boys.  
Ruby´s shuffle: Let go - Hollywood Undead.  
The Devil in Me - Slipknot  
Jolene - The White Stripes  
Not Strong Enough - Apocalyptica ft Someone


	3. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby looks for Weiss in order to apologize, only to find the heiress is nowhere to be found... And so is Neptune.

The bell rang loudly in the hallway. A content and cheerful ambiance started in the classroom, chairs were moved with a screeching sound and conversations started loudly.

Ruby managed to collect her things and get out of the room before the door jam began. She slowly and groggily moved through the hallways. The laughs and distant conversations rumbled in her head feeding her headache.

After her conversation with Yang and dinner the young girl tried to get some sleep, yet as an elusive ninja whenever she thought it was close, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. The guilt that she screamed to her best friend was hollowing her like a ghost. Combining the guilt and sleep depression made the girl feel terrible.

She hoped her apology would be enough to mend the whole situation.

_What if she doesn´t want to be my friend anymore?_

Ruby tried to push that thought back in her mind. But she would have to admit, it was a real possibility.

Her mind was troubled. She understood the thing between Weiss and Neptune, that didn’t make it easier at getting over it. There was a lot she had to let go before really accepting this new change. However, she couldn´t get away from apologizing to Weiss for her mishaps.

Ruby reached her locker and sadly looked at the one next to her. She would have apologized to the heiress already if she had even seen her. Weiss hadn’t been at school when Ruby arrived nor was she any of the classes they had together. And Weiss Schnee missing classes were in the same category as having war, death, famine, and conquer riding around the street. The Schnee heiress never missed school; the idea alone would even get into an hour sermon on why that was inadmissible behavior.

As the girl opened her locker she sighted. Knowing the older girl, it was almost unthinkable to assume she would miss school because of a fight. But here they were, recess already and no sign of Weiss whatsoever. This fact fed the idea that she was avoiding Ruby. That would complicate things. If Weiss didn´t want to see her there was just no way she would be able to reach her. Not that she blamed the girl. Weiss lived a stressful family situation, with lots of screaming and backstabbing, she didn't need more of that from her friends. 

Ruby threw her backpack inside her locker, thoughts racing through her hurt mind. If Weiss hadn’t been to school, she would have to go to her house to apologize, and that wasn’t something she was looking forward to.

“Hello, Ruby!”

Ruby jumped standing up turning around to face the ever so cheerful Nora Valkyrie smiling straight at her. But accompanying her usual black vest, white shirt and pink skirt she had a … velvet fez?

“Hi, Nora, you startle….”

“Take this!” The redhead didn´t wait for an answer and she shoved what looked like a piece of paper in front of Ruby´s face.

While there were many questions still on the brunette´s head, but she knew better than to question Nora when she was clearly trying to do something. It would usually get you a nonsensical explanation and then proceed to drag you anyway.

The younger girl sighed and took the piece of paper.

“What's this about Nora?” Ruby said with a tired voice.

Immediately, Nora snatched the piece of paper back.

“ Oh, I see you have a ticket for the special feature today… how lucky of you. I will escort you to your seat.”

“What?”

At this point, Ruby didn’t know if it was the sleep deprivation or if she was just hallucinating. However, all her confused thoughts were halted as Nora grabbed her by the wrist.

“Now we have to go, we don't want to be late.”

And then the student council vice-president started dragging Ruby through the hallways at a breakneck speed. The process of Ruby´s head transition from standing up to trying to keep up with Nora´s sprint in order not to fall face first into the ground, in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, enough her legs reacted on time but were barely keeping up to the cheerful redhead.

“Nora… wait… what… just wait.”

But there was no stopping Nora, she just kept going.

* * *

A few hallways further down a blonde and brunette duo were walking down the rows of lockers, both carrying her bags with lunch.

“I don't see why you are in such a hurry to find Neptune,” Blake asked.

"He missed all his classes, but people saw him come to school. Where is he? Smoking behind the bleachers?"

The brunette looked with disbelief to her girlfriend.

"What are you, the discipline comity? Since when do you care if Neptune goes to classes? Or where is he?"

"I... have some things I want to discuss with him"

"You have been acting weird all morning, what´s going on?"

"Well... I really can't tell you" Yang said avoiding the searching gaze of the bright golden eyes.

"Is that so..." Blake answered with an already menacing tone.

Yang knew what was coming, she knew it the moment the words left her mouth without the truth about the situation at hand. The plagues of Egyp were a simple drizzle compared to what Blake was capable of doing in order to get the truth.

A drip of sweat made her way down the blonde´s face.

"Well let me ask you...."

Blake was cut off when a weird sound echoed through the corridor in front of her.

“Did you hear that?” Yang half glad something got the attention from the girl next to her.

“Is this another of your dumb jokes?”

“No, really… its some sort of echo… almost…”

A blur of red, black, white and pink flashed in front of the couple with what sounded like:

“Nora, wait!” Could be heard as the shade of colors moved down. Ruby´s voice protrude from the speeding mass both girls witnessed. The scream dissipated as the flash girls moved down the hall at an amazing speed.

“Was that Ruby?” Yang asked.

“Was that Nora dragging her?”

“I don’t like how that looks” Yang said before sprinting down the same hallway she saw her sister go.

Meanwhile, Blake sighed as she gave the brown bag containing her lunch, with a sorry look. Another day filled with antics. She politely laid her bag to the side, next to the lockers before sprinting behind her girlfriend.

* * *

Another set of hallways down, the president of the student council walked at a leisure pace. His thoughts mostly revolved around the activities to complete for the rest of the school year, they weren’t that many, to be honest. Some minor changes he would have to do to his history essay, where he and Nora would spend their next date night. Maybe somewhere where she could break stuff…

His thoughts were interrupted with the weird echo of someone screaming. Ren stopped walking just in time, to see her girlfriend dragging none other than Ruby Rose through the hallways. Although they were traveling at a speed that could be compared to Mach speed 7, the redhead had enough time to turn around and look at him.

“Hi honey” The girl said cheerfully as a second later they disappeared in a flash.

Ren had to blink a couple times in order to assimilate what had he just saw. Unfortunately, his process was once again cut short when Yan Xia Long came running behind her girlfriend.

“Nora get back here with my sister!”

And a few steps behind, Blake running behind her own girlfriend.

After that display, Ren couldn’t help to sight. He didn’t know what had just happened, he just knew his girlfriend had apparently kidnapped Ruby and her sister was after her.

This would need intervention.

With a heavy sigh, he laid his lunch bag on the floor and joined the pursuit.

* * *

Ruby was at a complete lost to where she was. Even if she had spent 2 years in the building. Apparently, you only needed a hyperactive Nora dragging her at full speed to make her feel lost and in complete disarray. They could be on the roof already for all she knew.

Fortunately, her guide slowed down and with an audible screech, they came to a halt.

“Here we are!” Nora announced in a cheery tone.

Ruby looked around dizzy and utterly lost, trying to figure out where she had been taken to.

Lockers, tiles, backpacks and …

Big metal double doors, and giant tag with the words.

The Auditorium.

Her stomach clutched on itself. Half from the sprint, half from the fresh memories this place brought.

_I´m not ready for this. _

“Nora, why did you bring me here?”

The first and only answer she got was a shove towards the doors as Nora opened them and pushed Ruby inside the room.

“It's a special feature and you are the special and only guest. “ The red head said as she managed to get Ruby through the doorway pushing a little harder.

“What are you talking about, there is no…”

Words were completely lost once Ruby saw what was inside of the auditorium. All the stage light was on, shedding light to the red curtain extended throughout the stage. As if it was ready for a play to begin.

Witnessing this, a bit more of truth was shed onto Nora´s rambling. The cheery girl proceeded to “guide” Ruby down the aisles of seats, and as they got closer and closer to the main stage, the younger girl realized her initial assessment of the room had been wrong. One of the stage lights was directed at the front rows. Once Nora and she had arrived at to the front row, she noticed that the light had been directed to one seat in particular. Nora walked with her until they were right in front of the lighted seat.

“Here you go miss Rose, hope you enjoy the show. “ Nora said as she turned around.

Ruby came close to the seat and noticed there was an envelope on top of the seat. Cautiously she took the white envelope and inspected it, the envelope was made out of a very fancy paper, thick yet very silky. There seemed to be some sort of object inside of the envelope that caused it to bulge. In the middle of the paper, there was letters written in a cursive and fancy font that read.

_RUBY_

The girl couldn’t help but gulp loudly. She knew who had written that, the only person who would go through the trouble to write such a fancy font by hand.

_Weiss._

Before any thought could be put on to the why or what, the curtains on the stage started to part away, and as the velvet curtains parted ways the stage lights turned off, leaving the room in complete darkness. Steps started to sound up on the stage. And just as quickly as the lights the went out they came back, but this time, two figures were standing right on stage next to a microphone with a stand.

Ruby couldn’t help but stare in awe at what she was seeing. Right on stage none other than Weiss Schnee dressed in what Ruby´s mind could only describe as the clothing worth of an angel.

She was wearing a long dress that reached her ankles, it had an opening that showed most of her very long and smooth leg. The dress went from a turquoise color on the top and throughout the dress, it degraded to a light blue, the dress felt very elegant touch overall, and Dust as the witness, it made Weiss look, absolutely gorgeous.

Without any hesitation, the heiress grabbed the microphone from the stance. Ruby was hypnotized with every move the heiress made and when her piercing blue eyes, the heiress made a move with her chin, pointing at the seat behind her.

It took a few seconds for Ruby to understand what the girl was trying to say, but fortunately enough the girl managed to decipher the secret message. She put away the envelope in the pocket of her hoodie, then took a step back, and her legs gave away letting her down on the seat.

That seem to do the trick, and the heiress took a deep breath.

A guitar started sounding behind Weiss and just then did Ruby remember there was another person on stage. Neptune stood on stage with a guitar in hand while wearing a lined black and white shirt and a black dressing pants. A mix of emotions emerged when she saw him. However what stood out the most was the fact that even thought Ruby had some mixed emotions towards him, he looked pretty handsome and in a perfect contrast with Weiss.

Neptune moved his right hand across the guitar´s accords, the notes filled the whole auditorium perfectly announcing whatever this was, it was about to start. The melody started slow, each note perfectly tuned in a slow rhythm, creating a slow melody.

_Kiss me sweet _

_I'm sleeping in silence_

_All alone in ice and snow._

Ruby's blood froze as Weiss sang the first verse. Every time she had heard the heiress sang goose bumps were something inevitable.

The guitar kept its rhythm, making the ambiance smooth and intimate, a sweet melody.

_In my dream _

_I´m calling your name _

_You are my love_.

Ruby must have been dreaming… was… was Weiss singing a love song, for her?

_In your eyes_

_I search for my memory _

_Lost in vain _

_So far in the scenery_

_Hold me tight. _

_ And swear again and again_

_We´ll never be apart._

The guitar made a minor modification to the rhythm hitting more cords increasing the rhythm for a few notes just to calm down and continue as it was after a second.

_If I could touch my feathers softly_

_I´ll give you my love_

_We sat sail in the darkness of the night _

_Out to the sea_

_To find me there_

_To find you there _

_Love me now _

_If you dare..._

Weiss looked at Ruby straight in the eyes, a sweet stare.

_Kiss me sweet_

_I´m sleeping in sorrow_

_All alone_

_To see you tomorrow. _

Ruby´s eyes were simply hypnotized by the heiress, she watched every move and every little movement she made. Unlike Ruby, Weiss wasn’t blushing, her faces were calm as if she was handling a task so mundane she had done hundred times.

The notes started to slow down, signaling the upcoming ending of the melody.

_In my dream _

_I´m calling your name _

_You are my love _

_My love. _

And with a couple of space in between notes the guitar fell silent and with it the whole auditorium shared silence.

Ruby couldn't find any word in her brain to express what she was feeling, the closer her brain came close to was simple ecstasy for what she just witnessed. Without waiting for any sort of response, Weiss walked to the edge of the stage and very elegantly jumped down from the stage. Keeping up her fancy pacing she walked the two steps between her and Ruby.

The brunette felt as if a predator was getting ready for the kill.

“Well, did you enjoy the show? ” Weiss asked with what could only be described as a seductive tone.

"Yes..."Ruby said getting up from her seat. "But... but, why?"

There was no human way to avoid the heiresses' grace, which seemed full of confidence, yet her face seems in doubt.

“I want to show you how important you are to me Ruby and I may not show it but I truly appreciate you. And I would also like to clarify that there is nothing going on between myself and Neptune. He is a friend, and he was just helping me prepare everything for this. I wanted this to be perfect, for you to know how much I care for you and how serious I am to what I am about to say." Weiss took a deep breath. Then once again silver met blue irises.

"The truth is ... I like you, Ruby, in a romantic way"

Ruby didn't move a single muscle as she heard those words. In her mind this was a confirmation, she was dreaming. In reality, she must have fallen asleep at Professor Port´s class and she was conjuring this impossible scenario. She would wake up angry at when her current fantasy ended.

Moments passed and Weiss seem to be worried at the lack of any sort of answer. She even turned to see Neptune who could only answer with a confused shrug. Weiss returned her attention to Ruby.

This was a dream, right? Well, Weiss seem very real, the heat from the stage light shed onto her felt very real too, and so did the butterflies in her stomach.

A conflict of reality began on Ruby´s head, was this a sleep deprivation hallucination or reality? She honestly couldn’t tell. Had Weiss Schnee just admitted to like her?

In her current state of mind, Ruby did what her sleep deprived brain thought to be the most efficient way to settle her internal dispute.

Slowly and with much doubt, Ruby moved her hand which had been standing frozen at her side to very delicately cupping the side of Weiss´ cheek. She touched her so lightly as if she was made of porcelain.

The older girl flinched in surprise to the touch, but she didn’t move away. Her cheeks were uncharacteristically warm. More heat started to emerge as a blush spread throughout the girl´s perfect skin.

“Ruby?” Weiss asked.

It sounded like a dream, it seemed like a hallucination, but it felt so real.

Weiss was in front of her after singing and confessing to her.

“You are real” Ruby´s mouth moved without any consulting to the brain.

The sentence seemed to have created even more confusion in the heiress.

“I am”

“And you just told me… you like me”

The older girl's blush increased but didn´t flinch a bit in her answer.

“Yes, I did”

Ruby's mouth opened slowly as realization dawned on her. The dream theory just now had been disproven. Leaving the young girl to set into the fact that girl she like had sung and confessed to her. All after she had been a terrible friend to her.

“… I can't believe it” Ruby said without thinking.

“Are you feeling ok?” The heiress asked with legitimate concern.

“Yes. I just really don't believe… I mean you do and… you said it… you did say it… you like me… and… I-I like you too… very much… and…”

While the rambling continued Ruby noticed how close Weiss was to her. At this distance, it was inevitable avoid analyzing the Schnee heiress faces. Her delicate and sharp features concentrating in reflecting true worry. The emotions she expressed were completely honest. The

“And…” Ruby couldn't find the strength to finish her sentence.

In the future when asked about her actions at this instant, Ruby would usually make up excuses of how she was sleep deprived or drunk with clumsiness or how she really believed it was all a dream. But in reality, her body acted before she could even know what was happening.

Tears began to flow through the young girl´s face. There was no control over them, what started like individual drops soon turned into a flood of tears.

To say Weiss was surprised would be the understatement of a lifetime.

"Ruby! Oh, dust, I'm so sorry" Weiss said panic crumbling her voice while she tried to find something to comfort the brunette. "I... I didn't.... I'm sorry I..."

"No Weiss, it's not your because of that.... I... I'm the one who should be apologizing...." Ruby struggled to speak while she was struggling wipe the tears from her face with her sleeves. "I was so mean to you I screamed at you and.... I said you weren't my friend and.... I'm sorry, I really am. You did all this and I just... I don´t deserve this..." Ruby kept breaking up during each sentence.

Weiss listened to the girl in front of her try to articulate an apology. It took a few seconds but the older girl seemed to understand what Ruby was attempting to do.

The girl tried to continue her apology when two arms went around her and pushed her into a tight hug. All words died as she felt Weiss´ warmth surrounding her. Silence dominated for a few seconds before Ruby looked up to meet with Weiss.

Now it was Weiss' time to know what Ruby looked like in her most vulnerable moment. With her big silver and shiny eyes, her puffy cheek reddens by her efforts to clean away the tears, and her red lips. Ruby Rose looked like a sad and beaten puppy, and that was a sight made the Ice Queen hug the girl tighter trying to comfort her.

"Ruby calm down, everything is okay"

"No, it isn't. You were... you did such a sweet thing, and I was terrible to you. I am sorry"

Weiss' expression soften as she carefully watched the young girl. Every bit of her face reassured that her apology was sincere and heartfelt. Weiss answered by burying her face in the brunette's hair, embracing the rose scent.

"It's okay Ruby, I forgive you"

"Really?"

"Yes, you dolt, so please stop crying"

Ruby hid her face by burying against Weiss' chest. The older girl ran her hand through Ruby's hair, trying to calm her down. A minute into the embrace, the tears stopped flowing. Yet both girls remained in the position.

"I like you too" Ruby broke the silence. 

Weiss shot her eyes open at the remark and immediately looked down at the girl she was holding. Who also happened to be looking straight at her.

"I like you too, as in like, like you" Ruby repeated with a blush on her face.

"You do?"

"Yes!"

Weiss smiled at the reaffirmation while Ruby noticed how close their faces were to one another. So close to her perfect lips.

Weiss too seemed to notice the closeness between them too. However, contrary to what Ruby would have expected, the heiress didn´t push her away, or anything of the sort. On the contrary, one of her hands found her way to the back of her head.

Weiss' intentions were obvious, and it seemed she was ready to act on them, yet she pulled back at the last second. But where the older girl stopped, well. Once again Ruby acted on instinct and closed the distance in between their lips. 

The sudden contact shocked the heiress beyond belief and no answer came from her during the start of the kiss. Which cause Ruby to believe she had taken advantage of the situation and started to retreat. Only to find the hand behind her head pushing her forward back into the warm and moist lips again.

This time Weiss decided to take the lead embracing the younger girl´s lips and deepening the kiss. She seemed to be very much into it. For Ruby, this was it, the culmination of a year and a half of what she thought would be an unrequited crush. So much angst and desperation over. A meteor could hit earth right now wiping out the entire human race and she wouldn’t care. Firstly because she would be dead and secondly because she was kissing Weiss freaking Schnee after she confessed to her.

Ruby's lungs demanded air and reluctantly she gave in moving away from the oh so delicate lips. Both girls looked at each other lost in their eyes while trying to get their breath back.

Not a word was uttered by any of the girls, only heavy breathing. 

For a moment Ruby just enjoyed the situation she currently was in, how fortunate she was that her love had not been an unrequited one.

Unfortunately for both of them, their moment was cut short when a loud crashing sound came from the stage, startling them.

Both girls turned to see what had caused the sound, only to find Neptune with his guitar case already on his shoulder looking like a deer in headlights, as a microphone stand laid on the floor as the most certain culprit for the sudden noise.

"Sorry, I was just... taking my leave. Sorry" The blue-haired boy said nervously, avoiding any sort of eye contact.

It was fair to assume that the girls had forgotten he was even in the room. At the sudden discovery, the face of both girls was consumed with a furious blush as they realized their private moment had been witnessed by a third party.

"Yes, don't worry, thank you for all your help, it was very valuable" Weiss said mustering all the properness she could.

"You are welcome" Neptune answered uncomfortably making his way down the stage. He hurried his way through the hallways of seats.

"Uh...! Neptune!" Ruby loudly spoke, making the boy stop in his tracks and turn to face her.

"Uuuuh, thank you for this. And... I'm really sorry I kind of overreacted to the whole thing"

Neptune simply nodded at the makeshift apology.

"Don't worry about it Red" Neptune answered before turning around and continue his way out.

Ruby smiled at the sight of the boy leaving. All of a sudden her phone started vibrating in her pocket. She reached to her pants and retrieved it, only to find she had received a text message from Yang that read:

_Oh yeah, get her little sis!_

The girl froze as she read the message. Her immediate reaction was to look around the whole auditorium in search of her sister. However, the quest turned out a failure as there was no sign of the blonde in the room. Startled by this the younger could only turn to the only other person in the room.

"What is it? You look like you have seen a ghost" Weiss answered after feeling the confused stare.

Ruby could only answer by showing the girl the text she had just received. Weiss´ eyes widened as she finished reading the message.

"Ho...How did she... I specifically told Nora... How did she found out?"

"Maybe it's not Yang. Maybe it is the ghost of the auditorium that is always watching spying on us. Always on around us" Ruby said as she fearfully looked around the room before returning her eyes to Weiss.

"You are lucky I like you this much" The Ice Queen answered after hearing that nonsensical answer.

"I sure am" Ruby smiled returning to embrace of the older girl.

* * *

As both girls continued their hugging festival, unbeknown to them a couple of strangers eyes were struggling to keep quiet on the entrance of the auditorium.

"See, I told you it wasn't anything bad" Nora reminded a certain blonde spying the couple through a tiny opening on the main door.

"She did make her cry" Yang said moving away from the door, putting back her phone into her pocket.

"Oh come on, it was just to amp the drama" Nora answered turning around. "I believe we can release him now" The redhead pointed at a Neptune who was currently being restrained by the combined efforts of Ren and Blake. One hand was covering his mouth while other two were wrapped around him avoiding any movement from the arms. The boy was beyond shock and nervous as if someone was really trying to kidnap him.

"Yeah, we already know, no need for interrogation anyway" Yang answered.

Ren and Blake let go of the boy, who immediately started breathing heavily.

"I don't think that was necessary," Neptune said fixing his shirt.

"Well, that happens when you don´t pick up your phone, Mister." Yang said nonchalantly as she wrapped her arms around Blake's waist and grabbing Neptune by the shoulder. "Tell you what though, let me buy you that weird thing you drink as an apology"

"As an apology or as I way to keep me shut about you spying on your sister"

Blake scoffed at the comment.

"Well why not both?"

"That is at least two sodas" Neptune counterproposed.

"Oh, now you are trying to rip me off!"

The three teenagers made their way down the corridor, their voices evaporating more and more with each step they gave.

Still, at the entrance, Ren and Nora gave a last peek observed as the new couple embraced each other.

“So … I assume you gave them permission to use the auditorium.”

“Maybe” Nora answered playfully

“Did you get anything in return for this?”

“Duh, this amazing fez. Look at it, a tiny hat, it´s so cute.” The girl answered pointing at the fez she was currently wearing.

Ren observed the afore mention Fez and then Nora.

“It sure is”

“See, it was a bargain. “

“Sure sounds like one.”

“Oh, yeah, by the way, I hope you are free today.”

“Oh? Are we doing something?”

“Well, I might have gotten something else from this.”

“Really? And what would that be?”

“Hmm, a very super special secret.”

Fortunate Ren knew that he wasn´t going to get more information for the redhead, so he simply answered.

“I can't wait.” Nora smiled and gave Ren a quick peck on the cheek.

“You will need to wear a suit though…”

* * *

The wind blew strong and cold on the streets of Vale. The clouds in the sky gray and heavy were a premonition of the harsh weather to come later in the day. Most of the roads were filled with remains of ice and snow acting as decoration to the otherwise plain concrete hallways.

However, the cold was not a worry for the girls walking down in a white and red coat. Their intertwined fingers did more to fight the cold than any of the clothing they were wearing.

“I can't believe they already know!” Weiss said annoyed.

"Well, according to Blake they were very close to where... things happened" Ruby answered blushing at her own response.

"I specifically asked Nora not to let anyone inside"

"You know Yang, she has her ways." 

"Damm it, I thought Nora of all people would be able to hold anyone back"

"Yeah, by the way, how did you convince her to lend you the auditorium"

“It was easy really, I just had to get her a free dinner with Ren at one of my father's restaurants. And well, that stupid fez she insisted on using.

“It looked a bit goofy.”

“I know, but she insisted on it, but believe me it was a part of the negotiation. There was a point where I believed she was more interested in the fez than with the dinner "

Ruby giggled as she scooted closer to Weiss being shoulder to shoulder.

"Well, it seemed your negotiations skills managed to push through"

"At least, she managed to get you to the auditorium"

"That is one way of putting it." Ruby said remembering the almost abduction from the read head. "By the way, I couldn´t tell you at the moment, but you looked beautiful in that dress"

Weiss blushed at the compliment making her look straight a the ground.

"I'm glad you liked it"

"Of course I did. It´s a shame you had to take it off"

Weiss had changed out of her dress and gotten back to her usual coat-dress, leggings, and boots, having her dress picked up and taken home in private transport.

"Well I really didn't feel like freezing outside today, so I am sorry"

Weiss answered.

"It doesn't really matter you look beautiful in anything" Ruby continue to compliment, earning a new shade of red in the heiress´ blush and a tight squeeze on her hand.

"You dolt" Weiss answered in a whisper. Ruby smiled at the comment.

They continue to walk in a comfortable silence for a few minutes as they felt the events of the days finally settling in. After their confessions, classes were just a blur for both girls; none of them were really able to concentrate on the subjects. Classes were reduced to just stealing glances of each other and doodling in the notebooks. The last bell came like a blessing to them, no more classes for two whole days opened the possibilities to how much time they could spend together.

Ruby started humming a random song while they made their way through the cold weather.

“Did you like my present?” The Ice Queen asked.

And Ruby's immediate answer was a face filled with confusion. Weiss was a bit annoyed at this.

“The envelope I left you at the auditorium.”

The memory of the younger girl came to the rescue, bringing forward the information she was looking for, and revealing the envelope that was being kept safe in the front pocket of her hoodie. Ruby pulled out the envelope.

“Oh yeah, I got it!" Ruby said excitedly.

"You dolt! You didn't open it"

"I was going to, but then you started singing and then you confessed and then I confessed and well, it was just an exciting day" Ruby used as an excuse.

She pulled out the envelope from the pocket of her hoodie, she was forced to separate her hand from Weiss', as she needed them to open the envelope.

Ruby tried to delicately no to tear the expensive paper to shreds, slowly she separated she sheets of paper, the glue gave in easily letting the envelope open. Inside of it laid an unidentified object. Ruby took it out only to be surprised that said object was the USB in the shape of a snowflake that Weiss had bought some days ago.

"Oh, it's the USB! How cute"

"The USB is part of the gift, the important part is the content of the memory” Weiss explained

“Oh, well I can´t see it, I didn’t bring my laptop today.”

Weiss face palmed.

“Of all days you could have forgotten it.”

“Well I had to get out quickly and I didn’t sleep too well. What does it have?”

“You moron, that is for you to find out. It would ruin the surprise if I told you.”

“Oh, come on. I still have to walk home, start my computer, hope nothing goes wrong and it can warm up completely. It would take an eternity, I might as well do it tomorrow. “

“Youre such a drama queen.”

Ruby decided to use her ace in the hole. She turned to look at Weiss and unleashed the Kraken, the stare that would cause even a statue to smile. Ruby unleashed her infamous puppy eyes. Her eyes were open wide and her mouth shaped into a little pout.

“Please” The “innocent” looking girl pleaded.

Weiss should have to know better, she had seen the puppy face oh so many times, she had witnessed it´s power first hand and how abusive Ruby could be with it. She tried to resist, dust knows she did. All her will power and stubbornness tried to form a defensive mechanism against it.

But just like with Medusa, it only took one little peek. The smallest of them all. A look into those silver pools and that adorable pout. All defenses fell like a pile of dominoes. Weiss hated she gave in so damn easily.

“Fine, take that pout away from me.”

Ruby's smile could only be described as smug. She put back her puppy face knowing it would come handy again.

“It's…it's just me… singing a couple songs….”

Ruby's face lighted up like a firework.

“You sing songs… for me to hear?”

Weiss blushed deeply and thanks to her pale skin it was impossible to ignore it.

“They are just a couple of…”

Weiss couldn’t finish her sentence as two arms cling to her neck.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you”

Ruby launched herself to hug Weiss tighter. However given that the streets were filled with snow and parts of them were icy. The sudden tackle from Ruby caused the heiress to lose her balance, making her fall on her side to the snowy grass they were walking next to.

“Ruby you absolute dolt. Look at what you have done.”

“Ha,ha,ha,ha. I'm sorry Weiss, I just… you never sang for me and now you have sing live for me and your are giving me recordings. You are spoiling me already.”

“Just… just.. just get off me, you surprised

Ruby obeyed her girlfriend's request, but not before she snuck a kiss into Weiss' cheek, then proceeded to stand up.

Once standing she noticed the ever so present blush so hard she might have been able to melt the snow she was laying on.

With a smile on her face, Ruby offered her hand to Weiss, which she gratefully accepted. Gracefully the heiress got back to her feet with the brunettes helpful force. Both girls scoop the snow from their coats.

“Now if you don’t mind, I would like to keep going.”

“Fine, fine.”

The couple resumed their walking through the icy sidewalks.

“So, what songs did you record?”

“They're German songs, there the ones I was the most confident with”

“Uuuuh!, are they like pop songs or something like that?

“Not really, my teacher wasn’t particularly fond of the pop songs on those days, so he taught me more traditional songs, folks songs, and lullabies.”

“Awww, you are going to sing me to sleep, you are so sweet, Weiss.”

Unimaginably, Weiss' cheeks turned a new shade of red to the comment.

“I… the recording are yours now so you can do whatever you want with them, I just… recorded them.”

It was then that the couple reached the end of the block and stood on the crossroads. Here it was the usual spot was the girls would split up in different directions in order to get to their houses. Weiss would take a right making her way to the higher class part of the city, while Ruby turned left to the middle-class sector. Both girls halted at the corner of the block.

“Are the lyrics to this song as nice as the one you sang to me?”

“Well some are close to romantic, but to understand them you would have to know German.”

“Oh, I see,” Ruby said with clear disappointment in her voice.

Weiss looked at her new girlfriend and by the simple sight she had, her mouth moved on its own.

“I could translate them if you want” Weiss was surprised she said that.

“Really?” Ruby answered with a new wave of hope in her eyes.

“Yes” Weiss answered, as it was the only answer available.

“Can we do it today?”

“What?”

“Can we listen to them and you can translate them to me. We can go to my house, have dinner. If… if you want, we can just not do that.” Ruby asked shyly as she realized what she had just asked. Weiss was her girlfriend now and for what it sounded it seemed like she just asked her on a date to her house.

Weiss herself heard the invitation and started considering the implications of said invite. This would be the first time she would go to Ruby´s house as her girlfriend, she would meet Ruby´s dad, as her girlfriend. Oh, dust. That was the tricky part. Right there Weiss realized she hadn’t asked Ruby´s father for his consent to date Ruby. What if he refused? What if he thought Weiss wasn’t good enough? There were a lot of cons against the dinner plans.

However, the decision was more than clear when Weiss looked at Ruby who was averting her gaze and directing it at the floor. One foot was standing on her tip making circles in the pavement.

It was a cute image of the otherwise self-assured girl, shy of asking her to have dinner with her. Really the songs and translation were but an excuse to spend more time with her. Which she couldn’t really blame, she too wanted to spend time with her new girlfriend…

“Would that be alright with your dad?”

Ruby looked up from the ground, eyes filled with hope.

“Yes, of course, you know he always cooks too much dinner anyway. So…

“No, that's not what I meant. … Will your father will be ok with me and you being together.”

“Oh!, of course, he will Weiss, he really likes you. Besides I was the one who chose you, even if he didn’t like you, I would make him like you. Not that he could have a reason, look at you, you are so cute and loveable.”

“That's not what I hear often. Are you sure he will be fine with it?”

“Of course, but we don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to”

That would have been a terrible request, Weiss had witnessed first hand how close Ruby was with her whole family. Either with warm hugs or nice chats, the Xia Long-Rose family seemed so open and less secretive as possible.

“No, it's fine, I'm just a bit worried, I have never been in this situation before so I don’t know what to expect. “

“I promise you it will be fine, and we don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to, hell you don’t have to come if you don’t want either"

“I… I do want to go, it sounds like a nice evening.”

Ruby held Weiss' hand tighter.

“It's going to be ok, I promise you, Weiss.”

Ruby´s eyes used their secondary power, playing as two pools of complete calmness and assurance that everything will be all right. The younger girl´s statement sounded more like a fact.

“Alright, I accept your invitation.”

Ruby smiled.

“Neat... though you can expect some teasing.”

“I have learned to endure Yang's teasing”

“I was talking about my dad.”

“Oh!”

“Don’t worry, he is a little better than Yang.”

Both girls started walking, crossing the street to the left, hands intertwined, blush on both faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the "epic" finale of this short series. Hope you enjoyed it! If you did please leave a comment, they help to enlarge my ego, or if there was something you didn´t like, please also leave a comment, it will make teach me to be humble. Hopefully, there will be some sort of balance there. Read you again in the next series. With some luck, it will take me less than 3 years to write again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fluffed filled chapter, more angst, and actual conflict will be coming to the next one I promise.  
If anyone is interested in the song: The Phantom of the Opera - Lindsey Stirling


End file.
